October, 1993 - Volume 10, No 10
$3.95 (NZ $7 inc. GST)
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For Professional and Home Users
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Personal Paint
AGA Image Processing
Deluxe Paint
M&k Road Test
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MS-DOS Emulation
Without Hardware!
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Learn to play the Piano • NEW Blitz BASIC Column
Dpaint • CanDo - C64er * Andy's Attic • Media Watch
Registered by Australia Post Publication No. NBG 6656
* Recommended Retail Price
LEISURE
Title Member's Price Price
A-Train 84.95 R9.95
A-TRAIN CONST. 49.95 53,95
Abandoned Places 1174.95 79.95
AIR WARRIOR
Alien 3
Apocalypse
Armour Geddon 2
Ashes of Empire
ATAC
B17 Fl Fortress
Bat II
Barbarian II
Battle Isle
BCKID
BEAVERS
Birds of Prey
Black Crypt
BODY BLOWS
Bride of Dracula
Caesar
Campaign
Cannon Fodder
Celtic Legends
CHAOS ENGINE
Chuck Rock II
Civilisation
CONTRAFTIONS
84.95 89.95
64.95 69.95
64.95 69.95
64.95 69.95
84.95 89.95
74.95 79.95
74.95 79.95
74.95 79.95
54.95 59.95
64.95 69.95 Sim Ant
64.95 69.95
Nick Faldo's Golf 74.9H
Nigel Mansell's GP 74.95 79,95
Nigel ManseH'sAGA 74.95 79.95
No Greater Glory 84.95 89.95
PGA Tour Golf 49.95 53.95
PGA Tour Data Disk ,19.95 43,95
Pinball Fantasies 74.95 79.95
Powermonger 39.95 43.95
Putty 59.95 63.95
Reach Fort heSkies 64.95
Road Rash 59.95
Robo Sport 59.95
Scrabble 64.95
Secret Monkey Is 1 1 74.95
Sensible Soccer 93 64.95
Shadow Beast III
Shuttle
64.95
64.95
84.95
74.95
84.95
Solitaire's Journey 74.95
SPACE HULK
Star Trek
Stellar 7
5TREETFIGHTER II
Sword of Honour
Sim City
64.95 69.95 Sim Earth
59.95 63.95
49.95 53.95
64.95 69.95
74.95 79.95
74.95 79.95
84.95 89.95
49.95 53.95 Turtles II Arcade
VI
54.95 59.95
64.95 69.95
64.95 69.95
74,95 79.95
64.95 69.95
Curse of Enchanter 64.95 69,95
Dark Seed 74.95 79.95 Zoo!
Dark Queen of Kryn 64,95 69.95|i!OOL AGA
DESERT STRIKE
Dragon's Lair III
Dune
Dune II
Elf
ET'S Football
Eye of Beholder II
Fl Grand Prix
Fantasy Worlds
Flight of Intruder
Gooch Cricket
Gunship 2000
Heart of China
74.95
74.95
64.95
74.95
54.95
74.95
64.95
84.95
54.95
64.95
69.95
63.95
63.95
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79.95
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89.95
79.95
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77.95
77.95
77,95
69.95
79.95
59,95
79.95
69,95
89.95
59.95
69.95
John Madden F'ball 49,95 53.95 Amos 3D
Heimdall
H1STORYUNE
Howzat
Humans
UGH
Ultima
Vikings
Walker
Wing Commander 89,95 94.95
World Class Rugby 64.95 69.95
64,95 69.95
64.95 69.95
64.95 69.95
64.95 69.95
64.95 69.95
64.95 69.95,
54.95 59.95
64.95 69.95
64.95 69.9s!
74.95 79.95
84.95 89.95
74.95 79.95
74.95 79,95
84.95 89.95
66.95 69.95
64,95 69.95 Action Replay 3
74.95 79.95
64.95 99.95 Ami Align Kit
74,95 79.95
69.95 73.95 ARexx
KGB 45.95 49.95
Kingmaker 64.95 69.95
Knightmare 64.95 69.95
Knights of the Sky
Kyrandia 64.95 69.95
Leander 64.95 69.95
Legacy 64.95 69.95
Legend 74.95 79.95
Legends of Valour 64.95 69.95
LEMMINGS 11 74.95 79.95
Lethal Weapon III 64.95 69.95
Lotus 3 64.95 69.95
Lure of Temptress 64.95 69.95
Mega Fortress 74.95 79.95
Might and Magic 11174.95 79.95
LOiiCO BB:
24 hours? days
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KSjMI
PRODUCTIVITY
Title Member's Price Price
174.95179.95
Aladdin 4D
Ami Back V2.0
Amos Compiler
Amos Professional
Anim Workshop
419:95 42955
6435 6955
6455 69.95
84.95 89.95
64.95 6995
16455 l(B95
7495 79.95
8495 8955
23955 249.95
149,95 259.95
329.95 539.95
Art Dept Pro
Art Expression
Atdio Engineer +
Aidio Engineer Jun 179.95 189.95
Bars and Pipes Pr2 36955 37955
Brilliance 26955 27955
Broadcast Titler 2 34955 359.95
Broadcast Hi-Res 449,95 459,95
Broadcast Fonts 3D 154.95 159.95
B'Cast Fonts Callig 15455 15955
B'Cast Fonts L"u&ve 15455 15955
jCalligari 24
Can Do V2.0
Cinemorph
[Contact V2.0
Cross DOS 5
Cygnus Ed Pro
Deluxe Faint 4.1
Deluxe Faint AGA
Deluxe Print II
Deluxe Video 111
Design Works
DevPac V3.0
Directory OpusV4.0
Digi- Works 3D
Distant Suns V4.1
Dr T's DTP
Dr T's Tiger Cub
Easy Amos
469.95
179.95
13955
7495
5495
9495
16955
219.95
9495
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99.95
13955
1(14,95
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429.95
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8495
Tc-djcl-llvc iuail policy E 5 be a* coiiipeuiive as possibE* wiih the lowest prices on all 1
products. It is tin longer possible for us [o list all the products we sell. If you don't sec it
please call. All prices and availability an? subject to change wiibout notice.
Essence 4 Imagine 7495
Final Copy V2.0 13955
Flow V3.0 9495
Giga MEM V2 14495
Hi Soft Bask Pro 18955
HiSpeed Pascal 18955
Home Accounts 2 12955
Hyperbook 12955
Image FX 38955
Imagine V2.0 27955
Kindwords 3.0 119.95
Maxiplan 4.0 14955
Mini Office 11955
Morph Plus 269.95
Morph 4 Imagine 109.95
Outline Fonts 25955
Page Setter 3 99.95
PageSlream2,2 289,95
P'Stream Bus, Form4555
P'Stream Font Class 18955
P'Stream Font N' Let 11455
P'Stream Font Pack 17455
HotlinksVl.l 139.95
Pelican Press 9495
Pixel 3D Pro V3.0 22955
Powercopy Pro 3 8955
Pro Draw V3.0 179.95
Pro Fage V4.0 17955
Pro Video Plus 279.95
ProText V5.0 26955
ProWriteV3.3 9455
Quarterback V5.02 6495
Quarterback Tools 7955
S AS/ Lattice C 41955
Scala 500 13955
Scala Multimedia 38955
Scene Generator 6955
Scenery Animator 494.95
Super base Pro 4 28955
Super Jam 1.1 149.95
Synchro Express 3 129.95
TV Paint 639.95
TypeSmith 18955
Ultra Design Pro 2»55
Video Director 189.95
Visionaire 129.95
Vista Pro V3.0 9495
Word worth V2.0 31495
Shell 11495
CAD 3000 18955
Copy 9455
479.95
18955
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59.95
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229.95
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19955
199.95
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19955
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19955
24955
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31955j
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159.
99.
JMULTIMEDIA
397 ENMORE ROAD
MARRICKVILLE NSW 2204
PHONE (02) 519 6719
FAX (02) 519 7213
■cop/, format, view, play,
•rage with a simple click
of alPbusei
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that al
•jljj
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„ound. If it is
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do not look any farther. Being able to do
Jon't taverto switch to other programs. It's
ehere!
jur
A5IXH ID/KIIQ
A500HD/120Q
G-FWoc 1)311 25MH/
G-Fotcc0304OMH7
AI2M140MH/.IMB
1 Name
Address
Telephone No
Description
Amount $
■E_~
standard in Amiga paint and animation
rtSlionsofcojours. I
THE BUNDLE OF":
PRO PAGE"- 11 r -
Huny |pw <
Amiga's most p
gructured c'
Xi can obtain your cop
§.00. Our member's wii
further discount and their pre„
'-■m Unmii tiksto u«ii a ■'•
LOGICARD MEMBERSHIP DETAILS
Enclose $10.00 with your order and receive:
* A catalogue (cfck or magazine style. ..please slate your preference).
* Membership privilege card with PIN number.
* At least 6% discount.
* Discount vouchers and unbeatable special offers,
* Huge savings on SkyDesign PD Library titles.
* Special privileges on the Logico BBS.
* Become part of a club with over 2000 membersl
Credit Card Number
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Am ex
Postage:
Overnight $10|
Aust, Post $ 5 f
Contents
Features
16 Deluxe Paint AG A
Deluxe Paint moves onwards and upwards
20 PC Task
MS-Dos emulation without hardware
22 Ami-Back Tools vs
Quarterback Tools Deluxe
Recovery software - getting your data back
30 Personal Paint
An affordable new entry level paint program
Regular
4 Media Watch
6 Notepad
14 Letters
34 Hot PD - Latest in almost free software
38 Blitz 'em - Adding commands to Blitz Basic
42 Andy's Attic - Workbench Tools and Spot Mail Reader
46 Deluxe Paint Tutorial - Dark side of the Moon
52 Education - Learn to Play the Piano
56 You Can CanDo - Make your own Calendar
60 The C64 Column - Guide to graphics software
Entertainment
64 That's Entertainment
Latest news, hints and tips,
Mercenary ill Solution, Half of Fame
70 Game Reviews
Campo's International Rugby, Reach for the Skies,
Project X Revised Edition, Syndicate,
Street Fighter II, Dune II
78 Adventurers Realm
Hints & Tips, News, Trading Post, Problems,
Clever Contacts, The Dungeon
Published by: Saturday Magazine PTY. LTD.
21 Darfey Road, Randwrck NSW 2031
Ph: (02) 398 51 1 1 Fax: (02) 398 5322
Editor: Andrew Farrell, Phone (02) 879 7455 Fax : (02) 816 4714
Entertainment Editor: Phil Campbell
Advertising: Ken Longshaw, (02) 817 2509 Mobile 01 B 230 912
Production: Brenda Powell Layout: Tina Coins
Subscriptions / Back Issues: Darrien Perry (02) 398 5111
Distributed by: NETWORK Distribution Printed by: Ian Liddell Pty. Ltd.
Vol 10 No 10 - October 1993
30
Personal Paint
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'£■ -'9
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22
Ami-Back Tools and
Quarterback Tools Deluxe
Syndicate
win a copy of this great new game
ACAR1
.
Amiga Peripherals
at Perfect Prices
Editorial
A4000/030/ hard drive
Amiga1200/40HD
Amiga 1200/ 85 meg
A4000/030/120 hard drive
A4000/030/240 hard drive
A4000/040/ hard drive
A4000/040/240 hard drive
A1200
| computer
$799
Accessories
1 .76 internal drive/external
Amiga mouse
Golden Image Optical mouse
Stereo Sound Sampler
Gigamen virtual memory
Amiga hand scanner
A1200
clock
module
$49
Accelerators/Expansions - 1200
CSA 12gauge 030/50 MHZ MMU/OMb RAM
DKB A1202 16MHZ / 68881 / Clock
GVP A1200 SCSI / No Co-Pro + 0Mb
GVP A120D SCSI / 33 MHZ / 66882 + 4Mb
GVP A1230 • 030 / 68882 40MHZ / 4MB RAM
Microbotics MBX 1200Z w/clock + 68881 / 0Mb
Microbotics MBX 1230 + 4 MB Accelerator
$2350
$995
$1349
$2550
SCALL
$3899
$4050
$CALL
$25
$69
$79.99
$89
$249
????
$329
SCALL
$895
$1169
$285
$CALL
Memory Expansion
A500/512K RAM SPECIAL $49
4 meg A500/0 plus clock $89
A600 1 meg SPECIAL $90
8 meg A2000/2 meg pop $279
□Ann eiiii Acaruona-i o man ci/in
A30Q0 RAM 4 meg $260
A1200 RAM card /0 $249
Chio and Snares
Fatter Agnus 8372 (1 mg) $50
Fattest Agnus 8375 (2mg) $66
Su per Den i se H i Res $45
Gary $20
Paula $54
CIA 8520 chip $29
Workbench Kit 2.1 $139
V. 1.3KickstarlRom $35
V. 2.05 Kickstart Rom
Hard drives
A600/A1200 IDE 2.5 inch 64 meg $245
A600/ A 1 200 IDE 2.5 inch 65 meg $395
A600/A 1200 IDE 2.5 inch 127 meg $545
A600/1 200 IDE 2.5 inch 209 meg $759
CPCI ~» 52me 9 S360
auai 85 meg $369
Quantum % 127 meg $459
j. 3 men jp 240 meg $679
New Items
(1 ) New Supra Turbo 28 A500/200 26 Mhz Accelerator $449
(2) Video backup system
(3) Advance stereo sound system $139
Computer Man
PO Box E265, Perth 6001
611 Beaufort Street, Mt Lawley Perth 6050 WA
018 911 011 or 09 328 9062
In the United States, the Ami-
ga market is becoming increas-
ingly specialist. Vertical market
applications dominate. Video
and multimedia products con-
tinue to experience dramatic
growth in demand and perform-
ance. On the other side of the
globe, Amiga CD32 has been
launched, and consumers are
devouring the new compact disc
based technology with all the
vigour of school kids eating fairy floss.
Innovatronics, the people who publish CanDo and Directory
Opus, are U.S. based. They've announced changes to the licens-
ing of the runtime parts of their authoring software to reflect
their view of the Amiga world. Future CanDo application au-
thors will no longer be able to freely distribute CanDo decks for
commercial use. Innovatronics cite the shrinking U.S. Amiga
market, combined widi more complex, more expensive Amiga
solutions typically in use, as justification for the move.
Once again on the other side of the globe, CD32 owners are
gladly devouring James Pond, a very average title for this new
platform, with glee. The reasoning is simple. It's available, and
it's AGA.
Yes, the Amiga market has become a diverse and complex
place. It's certainly a difficult one for any one magazine to
address. And yet, that is what we face. In Australia, many Amiga
owners are upgrading to the Amiga 1200. There is no argument
about that. A number are also stepping up to the '030 based
Amiga 4000. Many too are sticking with the A500.
Very recent changes in Amiga distribution in the states have
seen increasing sales volumes of the new machines. Creative
Computers is now an Amiga distributor and are said to be
moving very good numbers of the AGA Amigas.
It's all encouraging stuff. Clearly Commodore will probably
concentrate on Amiga CD32 for some time to come. How well it
does will decide how many other new Amiga products we see.
The potential is exciting. More AGA machines means more
CD32 software. At a glance the CD32 may appear to be nothing
more than a glorified games console. However, in many ways it
is the realisation of the dream computer manufacturers of the
early eighties fostered. A single gadget which could deliver all
or most home entertainment. Married with the family television,
CD32 is just that.
It plays music CDs, video CDs (with help from the add-on
MPEG module), computer games, and multimedia learning discs.
In addition, it is likely the same device could offer the ability to
access remote information systems, or function as a complete
computer system. CD32 may be the path to mass consumption
of interactive multimedia. Given the strong sales the machine is
already enjoying in the UK, the market appears ready.
Andrew Farrell
ACAR 2
no 1 6TT©
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ImageFX
TRULY INTEGRATED IMAGE PROCESSING ... A REALITY,
HERE AND NOW
The concept is simple: ImageFX is the only Image Processing
package that you will ever need. Period.
Some Image Processing packages make a
lot of promises, but end up making you do
all the work - as they work on your pocket-
book! But not ImageFX from GVP, we've
done it right the first time, saving you time and money.
The way we see it, "Professional" means Truly Integrated.
That's why ImageFX gives you everything up front. We
wouldn't think of doing it any other way! Observe:
FEATURE
IMAGEFX PRICE
ADPRO™ PRICE
Image processing
Included
Included
Morphing
Included
Extra
"Pro Conversion Pack"
Included
Extra
Epson Scanning
Included
Extra
CINEMORPH
INCLUDED
FREE
HGVP
We could have stopped there, but Image Processing is serious
business, and serious business calls for value and power, so
ImageFX holds nothing back. You won't find any other Image
Processing software with these integrated features;
JX-1 00 Scanning
Virtual memoi7
Complete Painting Tools
Real-time WYSIWYG Preview
Dual Image Buffers
Alpha Channel
Undo & Redo
Ld Regionalized Processing
Edge Feathering
Brush Handling
Color Transparencies
3 Separate RGB Masking
Q CMWHSV Operation
YUV/YIO Operation >]
Perhaps other Image Processing packages will someday catch
on to the power and flexibility of ImageFX. However, if you're
serious now about Image Processing, you need the software that
was born ready. No limitations. No costly additions!
ImageFX is Truly Integrated Image Processing ... a reality
here and now!
Distributed I
s t r a I i a By
POWER
rtiiMitiu m » til
IcW*
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UPDATE COLUMN
As I mentioned bifore, we now have the Bruce
Smith range of technica! reference books. Talk
about "Hot Cakes".
MASTERING AMIGA AMOS: It describes in
detail, how to plan out a design for creating
games and covers everything from Easy
AMOS, to AMOS Pro. This is the best availa-
ble book on AMOS in Australia.
MASTERING AMIGA SYSTEM: This one cov-
ers in great detail, how to program the custom
chips and the operating system using the "C"
language.
AMIGA DOS 3: Actually, it covers from DOS 2
right up to DOS 3. It describes in detail, the
use of the CLI commands contained in the C
rji rectory.
THE 1200 GUIDE: Like the AMIGA DOS 3
manual, except that it also covers almost eve-
rything about Workbench 3, its use, how to
customise it, and hints and tips for getting the
most out of your new machine.
MASTERING AMIGA ASSEMBLY: Most of
the Bruce Smith books have been written by
Paul Overaa. His ability to educate in the most
simple way is amazing and this book is no
exception. Assembly language is just about
the hardest language to learn and so the way
you are taught is crucial. However, Overaa's
techniques, laid out in this book, will teach you
assembly language quickly and easily without
all the unnecessary jargon.
THE BIG NEWS THIS MONTH IS
OVERKILL'. This is the first AGA game for the
A1 200/4000 written in Australia! A little like
Defender, guard your men on the surface of
the planet while they destroy the crystals be-
longing to the alien fleet. Meanwhile, you de-
stroy the waves of attacking aliens and
progress to the next level.
The game runs in 256 colours at 50 frames a
second. The gameplay, sound, look and feel
of the game is what should be expected from
an AGA Amiga.
We also have back in stock Auto Mouse/Joy-
sticks/Switches; Auto Kickstart Switches; one
MB Ram expansion for the A600; Golden Im-
age Scanners with OCR.
By the way, if any of you missed out on our
Amiga Sales last month, please ring (02) 417
7255 for a "Sales List" now,
Pactronics Pty Ltd,
33 Aleyne St, Chatswood NSW 2067
Phone (02) 417 7255 Fax (02) 417 7099
#aPactronics
Media Watch
Amiga on air in '86!
It seems Kevin Gleeson of South
Arm, Tasmania takes the prize for the
earliest Amiga broadcast in Australia.
He was responsible for putting the
grandfather of Amigas, the old A 1000,
on air whilst working as News and
Sports Director at HSV7 Melbourne, In
case you're wondering, that's a TV
channel.
At the time the station was using an
Ampex AVA graphics system (equiva-
lent to the Quantel paintbox). Costing
around $200,000, the Ampex was a real
screamer back then. However the more
affordable Amiga was quicker to get
results for titling the monitor behind
Peter Landy on Seven's Big League -
the VFL roundup programme on Satur-
day evenings.
After some trickery with frame stores
and NTSC conversion, the Amiga graph-
ics made it to air and since then Kevin
has gone on to own the A500, 2000,
3000 and now the 4000/040. However,
there' s a PC on the desk too these days -
just to keep an eye on the opposition
who according to Kevin are fast clos-
ing. All I can say is check out the re-
ports in our news section on the Newtek
screamer Kevin!
Well, unless someone can beat the
date in Kevin's report, I think he de-
serves something ... maybe next month.
Sneakers
Both Steve Mullcr of Wulkuraka and
Daniel Everton of Sunshine Beach, in
Queensland, spotted an Amiga keyboard
and 10K4S monitor (with the badge cov-
ered) on publicity hangers for the video
release of Sneakers. The special offer
was for an Amstrad Mega PC, but some-
body down the line obviously uses a
REAL computer!
And Stephen McGovern of
Moorooka, also in Queensland, spotted
the distinctive shape of an Amiga 500
on a Channel 10 advert, where the old
trouper was being used to teach under-
privileged children in a Papua New
Guinea school. It was only a glimpse,
but it's amazing how your eye gets tuned
to these things ...
"Sunday" and
"Compass"
R L Thomson of Shepparton, Victo-
ria, spotted an Amiga analysing land
use information on the ABC "Sunday"
program on the 2nd of August. As a
bonus, on the same day and same chan-
nel the "Compass" program showed
Amigas being used to reassemble frag-
ments of the Dead Sea Scrolls in a paint
program. Good enough for a free sub,
Andrew?
Amiga vs IBM vs Mac
The definitions of Amiga, IBM and
Mac have been forthcoming. Here's a
few from Michael James who writes:
Amiga - A Tree. Slow growing, but
it will last forever. Dead easy to get
going, just chuck the seeds in the ground.
Many uses. Becoming more common.
IBM - Cactus. They're everywhere
and you cannot get rid of them. Don't
need much to keep them growing, but
dead hard to start. Every time you turn
around, you get pricked.
Mac - Pot. Purely for hippies. Easy
to get, but very expensive.
(See Letters on pages 14 and 15 for
another version.)
\pmpUT£Rrr»c|TE
(au>troia) ptv. ltd.
Ph (02) 457 8388 Fax (02) 457 8739
9 High St Mt Kuring-Gai NSW 2080 Aust
Amiga
Superbase V4
Upgrades
Superbase V4.3 $399.00
Full package
Superbase V4 owners $69.95
Pre V4.3 upgrade
Superbase owners $269.00
Pre V4 upgrade
AGAR 4
Everything
THAT YOU EVER DREAMED AN AUDIO SAMPLER COULD BE...
Plus!
We'll say il loud and clear: If you have an Amiga©, you needDSSS+ m I
There's a brand new standard in quality for 8-bit audio on the
Amiga: GVP's DSS8+. We've integrated utterly -unbeatable sound
with an impressive col lection of features never before found in any sampler.
You can shop around to your heart's desire, but you won't find a
sampler with clearer sound or more features anywhere at any price -
- why ? B ecau se fh e PLUS i n DSS 8+ means that we look
everything you expect in a stereo sampler and added:
• Now over 255 settings for input gain including
"Automatic". (No more time wasted in calibration!)
• Over 1 27 settings for our new Low Pass Filler. (Noise reduction !)
• Incredibly high Dynamic Range thanks to DSS8+S DC Offset
Adjustment. (Now hear this!)
• Right and Left channel pre-mix so you save precious RAM. (No
more stereo mix-down!)
• Hardware Channel Selector for optimum performance with all
A mi gas. (Power to the People!)
• Separate microphone jack for simultaneous voice-over and music
recording. (Home Video!)
• A solid secure fit onto the Amiga for minimal signal loss. (No
more liny screwdrivers!)
OlGITat- SOUND STUDIO
The PLUS doesn't stop there - it also gives you...
• Our renowned full-featured sample editing and music com-
position software.
• A handy Control Panel Tor independent control of DSS8+'s
advanced features, allowing full compatibility with almost
any sampler software available today.
The best manual in the business with an easy-
to-follow Digital Sound Tutorial.
A second diskette overflowing with ready-to-
play Sound Effects!
DSS8+ is the essential audio peripheral for everyone from
beginners to digital sound veterans. In other words, DS88+ is for
anyone interested in a fun and simple-io-use tool for sound and
music. It's perfect for jazzing up MulliMedia presentations created
wilhSeala™, 1 lelm™,CanDo™,MediaLink™,or AmigaVision™.
The PLUS also means Positively Affordable
In addition to being the best value in sound, DS88+ now
allows you to benefit from an unequalled offer. For a limited
time, you can send in your old sampler and receive a generous
discount on a new DSS8+. Call right away for details.
Take it from your ears, get the PLUS DS88+!
^GVP
Distributed In Australia By
IK*
fcO»°
POWER
H nr h ( in s m i 1 1 B
t.Vrt*
l«v
i\«
NEWS
Notepad
Merlin offers high
power graphics
The high powered Merlin 24 bit
graphics board, which offers 50
megapixels per second, a blitter 40 limes
faster than standard, and a throughput
of more than 20 MB per second when
used in a Zorro 111 slot, is now available
in Australia.
Of course the board will work fine
with Workbench, offering resolutions
up to 2048 x 2048 in 256 colours, and
includes TV- Paint 2.0 and a suite of
graphic and animation software. The
Amiga is consolidating its position as a
mid to high end graphics machine with
this sort of low cost hardware - for
$1 195, Merlin offers the kind of power
that used to cost (he thick end of a hun-
dred thousand dollars.
Spectrum hot on
Merlin's tail
On the subject of monster graphics
boards, the GVP EGS-28/24 Spectrum
board wilt be out in Australia pretty
much as you read this. It's the little
brother to the EGS- 1 1 0/24, and it offers
considerably more power than the es-
tablished Retina board but at much the
same price. Maximum resolution is 1600
x 1280 in 256 colours, it'll do up to
200Hz vertical scan rate, more than
twice the Retina's maximum, and its
passthrough design means that you re-
ally CAN use it with one monitor, nev-
er needing a second for incompatible
programs.
If you DO want multiple monitors,
you can run two monitors from one
Spectrum or install several Spectrum
boards all showing different things at
once. The EGS library system means
that, in theory at least, no correctly writ-
ten program will be incompatible with
the board. The Spectrum board will
work in Amiga 2000, 3000 or 4000
machines, in Zorro II or III slots. Its
Australian price is not yet finalised, but
it'll be carried by Power Peripherals on
(03) 532 8553, fax (03) 532 8556.
Cygnus ED hits V3.5
ASDG's Cygnus ED and Oxxi's
TurboText are the two most popular text
editors on the Amiga. If you need high
powered text manipulation but not word
processor features, they're the way to
go. After a quite long stagnant period,
Cygnus ED has taken a considerable
step forward with v3.5.
Many new features have been add-
ed, but tine biggest changes are improved
ARexx support - now more than 100
commands - and a large improvement
to the macro system, which is now much
more powerful and includes a powerful
editor. There's also a whole new manu-
al. Cygnus ED 3.5 is available for $149.
Amiga CD32 will be
available from Brashs
from October 1st and
other leading Amiga
resellers shortly there-
after for around $600.
The MPEG module
will follow soon after
for around $400 and
allow you to play vid-
eo CDs.
On October 15th we
will also see the release
of the much-rumoured
killer game title
Jurassic Park.
ACAR6
the Building Blocks of Better Video
G-Lock Makes Your Video Connections With:
• Genlock features for crisp overlays of scrolling, or static titles,
graphics over live video and recording to videotape with high
quality results.
• Simple, intuitive mouse-driven software control panels. Full
ARexx, CL1 interfaces and Workbench interfaces.
• Software selection of 2 composite video inputs or 1 Y/C
(S-Video) input.
• Software selection or mixing of 2 audio inputs with bass and
treble control.
• Software- driven video processing amplifier, Iproc amp] offering
complete real-time signal processing control, including hue,
brightness, saturation and more.
• Software-controlled RGB color splitter compatible with video
digitizers like Newtek's Digi-View™.
• Built-in transcoder converts input video to composite, Y/C,
RGB or YUV outputs.
• Full ECS/AGA support for full compatibility with new A1200
and A4000 systems!
• Compatible with popular titling software like AmigaVision™,
Scala-Multimedia 200™ and Gold Disk's Video Director™.
• Separate versions available for standards around the world.
Compatible with NTSC, PAL and SECAM.
HGVP
Video: A Cut Above
G-Lock's six video contra!
panels enable you to perform
a wide array of special effects
on still or motion video
including ...
► Colorizing for unique visual
effects.
► Creating your own "classic"
black and white videos using the Colorkill feature
► Color filter effects.
► High-quality keying effects with bitplane or
chroma keying.
► Manual or automatic (ARcxx triggered) fades
and cuts.
Audio: Sound Designs
G-Lock's dual-input audio panel switches, mixes and shapes
sound for effects such as ...
► Combining stereo channels or separate inputs without a "Y" adaptor.
► Treble and bass equalization.
► Plus, add DSS8 or any Amiga created/modified digital audio
samples to your final mix!
Professional video processing + audio processing + a powerful
but simple interface + creative special effects, make
G-Lock the cornerstone of your multimedia productions!
Distributed In Australi
B y
>">'"
19
r F. I I P HI P(tS P
NEWS
PageStream 3 looks
better by the minute
PageStream 3 is suffering from fea-
ture creep - where the development
team keeps adding more stuff and slops
the package coming out on time. But
the latest addition looks very much
worth it - Pagestream 3 will deal with
Professional Page format files, allow-
ing users of the currently leading desk-
lop publishing package to move to the
new system painlessly.
Upgrades to PageStream for Pro
Page users will be $US175. The Pro
Page format hasn't been published, so
the feat's been achieved by reverse
engineering; taking the files and figur-
ing out how they work, rather than
starting off with the format. To this
end, Soft-Logik got in various peo-
ple's oddball Pro Page files, to make
sure their decoder worked.
Pagestream 3 will deal with Professional Page files
TrofessionaJ Page V4 . 1 BPST3 Go 111 Dish Inc.
.,.,.,...,.,.,'l.,.,.,. 1 .,.,.,.,.,fl.....,.,.,.,.,.,..?l.
from A-Z. Call us for advice on
your next AMIGA system,
home, business or educational
software. We also have
modems, printers and
accessories.
Yes! We care about service.
• 30 Day Money Back Guarantee
• Full Service and Support
• FREE Delivery & Order
$69
AMIGA 600
1Mb Ram expansion card 6qq
Battery/Clock/On Off switch v"
AMIGA 500
512kb Ram expansion card
Battery /C lock/On -Off switch
2Mb Ram expansion card
Expandable to 4MB $285
Battery/Clock/On -Off switch v
4Mb Ram expansion card i 1QI -
MIDI CONNECTOR AND CABLES
AMIGA QUALITY MOUSE
INTERNAL 1500 FLOPPY DRIVE
AMIGA 600/1200
QUANTUM 2.5"
$639.00
PHILIPS
COL R Monitor
$349.00
BLANK
$119.00
$29.95
$149.00
t
120Mb for .4500
LATEST
GAMES
, I expandable to 8Mb RAM
$695.00
canon
CITIZEN
CAli US LAST FOR
BEST PRICES
m m
SHADOW SOFTWARE
Shop 2, No. 5, VICTORIA ROAD
PARRAMATTA NSW 2150
(02) 630 0558
Call for best prices on
GREAT VALLEY PRODUCTS
^AMIGA REPAIRS
FREE QUOTES
^^S^-J FAST TURN-AROUND
PRICES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.
ACAR 8
continued on page 12
SCALA
Everybody's talking multimedia revolution.
Allow us to light the fuse.
A lot of apples were bruised
when we first introduced
Scala, the professional pres-
entation package.
With the new Scala
MultiMedia MM200, they
will be blown into oblivion!
Let us introduce a few of the
features that make Scala
MM200 combined with the
Amiga the world's most
powerful multimedia
environment:
\*J Scala EX
A revolutionary new plug &
play system, for the inte-
gration of laserdisk, still
video, MIDI, or CDTV sound
in your Scala presentation.
Extra EX'es, such as 24 bit
graphic support and VCR
control are also available.
Scala Wipes
More than 80 amazing,
smooth and professional
transitions provide possi-
bilities previously unseen on
the Amiga.
Scala Sound
Enhance your presentations
with voice-over, music and
special sound effects! Scala
offers total control of
recording and play-back.
Scala Shuffler
Instant viewing of your
whole presentation! You can
see up to 112 pages at one
time. Simply shuffle them
around with the mouse!
rX Scala Snapload
A series of advanced tech-
niques make Scala load and
display pictures and anima-
tions faster than' any other
package!
Scala Buttons
Creating interactive hotspots
has never been so easy! Scala
MM200 even includes full
support of variables.
Scala LINGUA
The multimedia language
Lingua with its close link to
ARcxx puts the advanced
user in total control!
AnimLab
With this bonus program you
can make your animations
play up to four times faster!
The press writes:
"Tine word multimedia has
been battered and misused...
Scala on the other hand,
know exactly what multi-
media is and what to do with
it!" Amiga User International (UK)
"...the best program in show
business." Amiga Format (UK)
"Scala MM200 is the kind of
software that many serious
users simply cant't afford to
be Without." Amiga Computing (UK)
Scala MM200
— for video titling, training,
business presentations, inter-
active use — or any multi-
media combination.
For a close look at the
market leader in multi-
media software, contact
your dealer today!
The Scala ma hi menu.
Km The SCALA groupt
Oslo, Copenhagen, London,
Amsterdam, Stockholm,
Washington DC.
williitiflfcifidassislarko^.' ■**** 1
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[;-.■-.
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t 1gC / ™«*V.-/'K?\ :<"-"<\
■ ;-• \ WWWSCALA ' ■ '.'
■ Directed by Daniel Blath, \>-
N>^rOducydh*Jan[ V qfBrtidroy : ,
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■
••— ttr-mm r-mm
MSZm
Scroll text by Scala.
ran
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The Scala edit meiitt.
It's a Scala world!
The Scala Shuffler.
POWER
P f I I F N ! t • I S P I i tie
ttl FLoof. 257 Hawchorii Koid. Cmlfjtld North. 9161
Miontr (0J1552 S)5) In: {0J> J32 8556
Amiga Is a regisleiBd Hademark til Commodore-Amiga, Inc.
SCALA
Why moke it harder?
AMIGA
SCSI
CD-ROMDRIVES
AVAILABLE
Intern! & External
Available
Call!
Cr
ADD AN extra IDE 15" 40Mb $259-
HA v^ R Jr V 7oo T ° IDE 15" 120Mb $625-
rUUK AltVV (FREE INSTALLATION?)
MEMORY CHIPS
* 2MB RAM SUIT GVP A500/A2000 HARD DRIVES * ^
- 4MB 32-BIT SIMM SUIT GVP 030 G-FORCE CARDS ^ 3;
* 1/2MB RAM SUIT COMMODORE A59O/A2091 O fc
* 2 MB RAM SUIT COMMODORE A500/A2091 ^ g
" 1 Mb 32Bit Simm. Suit MBX1200. DKB1202 ^ g
■ 2Mb 32Bit Simm, Suit MBX1200. DKB1202 3 Q
■ 4Mb32Bit Simm. Suit MBX1200, DKB1202. A4O0O ^~ ^
■ 8Mb 32Bit Simm. Suit MBX1200. DKB1202 Eg
* A500 512K RAM EXPANSION 3 69-
* A500 AX-RAM 4MB EXPANSION (OK) 3 99-
* A600 Pyramid 1Mb RAM OR CBM 1MB RAM EXPANSION (A601) S 109-
* A600 16SIT PCM/CIA CREDIT CARD RAM 2MB $279-
■ A600 16BIT PCM/CIA CREDIT CARD RAM 4MB 5 469-
* A2000 GVP SERIES II HARD CARD UP TO 8MB RAM $ 295-
* DKB MEGACHIP2Mb Chip RAM CARD SCALL
RAM EXPANSION
How To Order ??
* Mail Order/ Phone Order
'Visit our Showroom!
* We Accept: r~>^<^ l
Visa, S/Card, M/Card,Bank Cheque,
Personal Cheque, Money Orders,
Phone For Prices, Availability
& Postage!
MECHANISMS
Quantum SCSI 40Mb ELS S 299.00
Quantum SCSI 85Mb ELS S 419.00
Quantum SCSI 127Mb ELS S 469,00
Quantum SCSI 170Mb ELS S 499,00
Quantum SCSI-1! 240Mb LPS 5 639,00
A120O/A6O0 40 MbHD S 239.00
A1200/A600 124Mb HD S 525.00
BIGGER & SCSI II DRIVES AVAILABLE
mm;
; CALL FOR MORE INFO!
• P A L Genlock w ili Cooip in & Out S 519.00
' Y-C Genlock with Corop & YIC is & Out S 715.00
' Sims Genlock- Scnii Professional 51 335.00
Full Australian Warranty!
UMAX FLAT BED SCANNER
6Q0DPI 24Bits per pixel colour flatbed scanner
(Giving 16.8 Million Colours). Legal Size.
Includes SCSI Cable, Ideal for OpatVlSWtl Etc ~-
■B °Cd to arrange a T)FM0 TODAY! "
Call For more Information!
REPAIRS DONE TO AMIGA EQUIPMENT
Raaic Ouervit-.w'
MVB s Pledge to our OpaWision Customers:
S THE BEST SERVICE
S THE BEST SUPPORT
S THE BEST PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE
" We Guarantee It!"
OpatVisten MOTHERBOARD:
A true 24-Bit Frame buffer & display device with 1B.8 Million
colours available lor every pixel & a maximum resolution of
768x580. An internal card that suits A 2000 .A 3000, A4000
family of Amiga s. It's powerful VLSI graphics co- processor
enables stencil modes, a host of transition effects. The board's
state-of-the-art design allows smooth fading of pictures, Colour
cycling effects, & smoolh. double buffered 24BH animation.
Motherboard includes: Opalpaint (32Bit Paint Package). Opal
Presents, & Opal Animation Utilities. Optional Video-
Processor. Switcher & TBC available Soon.
(Package deals available)
QpatVisitm VIDEO-PROCESSOR: \ ^ c ,
n nf -„„ ■„„=■/! cure /Due Soon!
Opalvtswn VIDEO-SUITE: /
laWision SCAN-RATE CONVERTER: uvzUta
Opt
Please call for more info!
Here's just some of the HUGE range of software
already compatible with OpaTVision:
Art Department, Aladdin 4D, Calagarl 24,lmagine,
Image FX, ImageMaster, MorphPlus, Real 3D V2.....
C 'Call to man® a DEMO TODA Y!'
•Graphics Tablets Available SCALL
Video Tape $/3 9
Backup System
In Stock Now!
W0 ^m ^11 FULL COLOUR & MONOCHROME
< r o ft i « «
FULL COLOUR & MONOCHROME
LASER QUALITY PRINTER
M0f NEW PRINTER!
* 360 X 360DPf RESOLUTION
* UNI-DIRECTIONAL PRINTING
* EMU LA TES EPSON LQ-860
* PRINTS ON NORMAL PAPER!
* PRINTS ON OHP FILM
* ON SHO W NOW AT MVB!
IN ONE STORE!
Remember:
We also stock a LARGE
range of books, Mags,
Games, Consumables,
cables, & Add on's etc...
See us at the Melbourne
Amiga EXPO Oct 31st.
'^T«T.5ir^J^iT^Fj^>fjTiiniUiiT^ l jag^^^J
C^T(Dm^pMMrr 2k_
Dedicated to the Amiga & its Customers!
"The AMIGA Specialists!"
EH
AMIGA SOFT
ra
m
$399.00
AMOS 3D
$ 88.00
Image FX (OVQ
AMOS Professional 3159.00
Imagemnster Pro V9.5Q (OVQ
SCALL
AMOS Professional Compile? $ 69.95
Imagine 2 PAL (OVQ
$279.00
ATnlk III $ 59.95
InFofile
$ 60.00
Aladdin 4D {OVQ $429.00
KARA Anim Fonts 4
$ 57.50
Ami-Back 2.0 $ 67.95
KARA Anim Fonts 5
$ 57.50
Ami-Bad; Plus Took $119.95
KARA Fonts Headlines 2
$ 69.95
Ami-Back Tools $ 69.95
KARA Head Line Fonts 3
$ 74.95
Am ign V isi on Pr oFcasiouaJ $139.95
KARA Head Line Fonts 4
$ 74.95
Anim Workshop $ 89.95
KARA Star Fields
$ 59.95
Art Department Conversion Pack $ 84,95
Kind Words 3
$119.95
Art Department Epson Dnvcra $ 1 79 00
Mac To Doe
$135.00
Art Department Pro 23 <OVC) $259.00
Mapmaater Suit Imagine
S 69.95
Art Department Pro Control $ 94.95
Maxi Plan 4
ST 51. 95
Art Department Sharp JX 100 $135.00
Mint Office
5124.95
Art Department Tools $ N EW
Morph Plus (OVQ S275 00
Art Lx press ion $249,00
Morphia for Imagine
$109.95
Pars & Pipes Creativity Kit $ 69.95
Newtek Media Station (CHEAP) $150 00
Gars & Pipes MultiiMedia Kit $ 59.95
No Virus
$ 29.95
Bars & Pipes Pro Studio Kit $ 69.95
PC-Task (AGA Compatible) $ 4995
Bars & Pipes Professional 11 $389.00
Pagesetter V3
$ 99-95
BoardMastcr $ 97.50
PageSlieam HotLinks VI .1
$139.95
Brilliance" NOW IN STOCK" $239.00
Pagestream Font Classic
$199.00
Broadcast Fonts 3D $1 55.00
Pngestream Pont Newsletter
$114.95
Bmadcail Fonts 3D Caligori 2 $1 55.00
Pagestream Pont Pack I
$ 79,95
Broadcast Fonts 3D Lightwave $155.00
Pagestream V2.2 & 47 Fonts
$289.00
Broadcast Tiller 2 $349.00
Pascal High Speed
$185.00
B roadcast Titler 2 Hi- Res S429.00
PatchMeister(Bars & Pipes)
$ 94.95
B roadcast Filler Font Pack 2 $ 1 59.9 5
Pelican Press
$ 94.95
Buddy System AmigaDos V2.04 $ 64.95
Pixel 3D Professional & Anim -
Buddy System Deluxe Paint IV $ 76.95
Workshop Pack
$249.00
Buddy System Imagine $ 64.95
Playtnation
$399.00
Buddy System Pagesneam $ 59.95
Power Copy V3
$ 91.95
C-NctV2.6 $119.00
Power Packer Professional V4
$ 39.95
CDTV Case O/T Cautious Condor $ 54.95
Printmaster Plus
$ 66.95
CDTV Classic Cookbook $ 29.95
ProWrilc 3.3
$ 94.95
CDTV Fantastic Voyage $ 52.50
Pro Fonts Vol I (Suit Pro- Write) $ 35,95
C DTV NASA the 2 5th Year $ 29.95
Pro Fonts Vol 2 (Suit Pro- Write) $ 35 95
CDTV Sherlock Holmes 5 74.95
Pro Page V4 & Pro Draw Bundle $349.00
CDTV Snoopy $ 29.95
Professional Cale V2 AGA
S 189.00
CDTV The Connoisseur Art $ 52 50
Professional Page 3,0 (Special)S 99 00
CD32 TITLES HERE SOON $ N EW
Professional Page V4
$1 79.00
Calagan 24 (OVQ $475.00
Proper Crammer n
$ S4.95
Calculus S 59,95
Quarterback Tools Deluxe
$119.95
Can Do V2..5 s CALL
Quarterback V5.02
$ 66.95
Cinemurph S 149.00
QuickWritc
$ 49.95
Commodore Release V2.I & ROM S 89.95
Real 3D V2 (OVC)
$799.00
Contact V2.0 $ 74.00
SAS C V6 Dcv System
$419.00
Cross Dos V5.0/ Cross PC $ 59.95
Scala 500
$129.00
Cycleman (Suit Imagine) $ 64.95
ScflIaMM21I
5399.00
Cyclcmuscles (Suit Imagine) $1 59.00
Scapemaker V2.0
$ 39.95
Cygnus Ed ProFessiona] V3.5 $ 99.00
Scapcmaker V3.0
$ 74.95
Deluxe Paint 4.1 $169,95
Scenery Animator V4 (OVC)
$ 89.95
Deluxe Paint 4.5 AGA $221.95
SoftChpart AnimaLs
$ 74.95
Design Works $ 75.00
SoFtClipart Classic
S 69.95
Directory Opus V4, 11 $104.95
SoFiClipan Collectors
S 77.50
Distant Suns V4. 2 $ 94.95
SoftCliparT People
S 69.95
Doctor Aim $ 57.95
Sofllaccs Vol 1 . 2. 3, 4 (ca)
$ 94.95
Dos to Dos s 54 95
Super Desk Jet Drivers V2
$ 57.50
Easy AMOS $ 84.95
Super Jam V 1.1
S145.00
Electric Incsaurus $ 56,95
Superbase Personal II
$ 89.95
lissence for Imagine $ 74.95
Supcrbase Pro 4 V1.3
5295.00
PinalCopyll ( A us Iral ian Vurs ion) s 1 65.
TAKE 2 (Animation Program)
$109.95
I'onlnsia (300 Compugnihic Fonts) $ 75 00
TV Paint, Retina, FV.
SCALL
Fred Fish CDTV $ 79.95
True Print 24
S 89.95
GigoMemV2 $145.00
TypcSmith
S199.00
Hisofl Dcv Pack 3 $1 22.95
Video Director
$199,00
Home Office Kit Deluxe.-lncludcs:
Virtual Reality Studio V2
$ 99.95
Maxi-Plan. K/Words3, InFofile $185.00
Visionaire
$129.95
HumanoidV 1.0 (Suit Imagine) $259.00
Vista Pro 3 (OVC)
$ 94.95
Hyperbook $ 99.95
Wojdwonh V2
5169.00
Hypereache Pro $ 54.95
Your Family Tree
$ 79.95
' Please itfe Prices ttfi SCALi WH unknown at the time of p*Scatfcri,
Pleasecallfefcunertpncesf (0VC) Deno(es QpaiVtsion Compatibly
«>05»
i^ML
AUTHORISED
Con^Co,.
DEALER
^ POWER COMPUTING LTD
K J " A HfflDBlTYDRIVf
.00 NOW
INST0CK
[Believe it ornot buttfiey are actually HERE!)
Please Note: 1.44Mb IBM Formal supported through CrossDos etc Only!
BRILLIANCE /NOW
Professional Paint & Animation IN STOCK
£odo, e CD 32
Commodore
AMIGA CD32
' AutSo CO
' CD+G (Grapfe)
• Most CDTV hdudftg CDXL
•Video CD (MPEG1) (Movies/Rock Videos etc)
AMIGACDS2 Price: $699-
Expected MPEG Expansion: $399-
'2Mb RAM
' 328il Technology
' 2 Graphics Co-Processors
' Palette of 16.8 Million Colours
' Oplional Full Motion Video at 25 Frames per Second
EL ERATO RS &
RAM EXPANSION
A500: \r
* GVP A530+ O30 4OMhz4Mb RAM From $1149-
■ VXL 030 25Mhz No Co- Pro OMb $ 299-
* VXL 030 25Mhz with 68882 Co-Processor $ 498-
* VXL32BH HAM 2Mb (Suit Above VXL 030) 3 475-
* VXL 32Bit RAM 8Mb (Suil Above VXL O30) $ 699-
A1200:
* CSA Twelve Gauge 030 EOMhz. MMU, OMb RAM $1299-
" DKB A1 202 1 6Mhz with 68881 & Clock OMb $ 299-
" GVP A1 200 SCSI Cont- with No Co-Pro & OMb.... $ 519-
" GVP A1 200 SCSI Cont- with 33Mhz 68S82 & 4Mb $ 939-
" GVP A1230 030 with No Co-Pro & 0Mb.... $ 876-
* GVP A1 230 030 & 68832 40Mhz WITH 4M B RAM $1 1 75-
* Micro Botics MBX1200Z with 68861 & Clock, OMb 3 299-
A2000:
* GVP G-Foroe 030 25Mhz with 68S82 & 1 Mb RAM 3 899
" GVP G-Foroe 030 40Mhz with 68882 & 4Mb RAM $1499
* GVP G-Force 040 33Mhz with 4Mb 60ns RAM $CALL
A4000:
" DKB 3128 Ram Expansion upto 128Mb 328it RAM SCALL
Anything not listed, Please Call us....
Melway Ref; Page 51 A8
ISI 506 Dorset Road,
Croydon, Victoria, 3136.
s Ph: (03)7256255
lt^ Fax: (03) 725 6766
E&OE
ft WE DON'T JUST SELL AMIGA'S WE USETHeST" ™"^^ — "™
THIS ADVERTISEMENT WAS PRODUCED ENTIRELY ON AN AMIGA COMPUTER!
Prices Subject to change without Notice
NEWS
Fred Fish's freely distributable soft-
ware library has been going, literally,
since the Amiga's birth. It's now got
more than 900 disks and various
people have taken it upon themselves
to put compilations of these disks onto
CD-ROM discs for the sake of
convenience. Now Fred himself has
got into the game.
There will be a monthly Fish CD-
ROM containing several categories of
material, including new material re-
ceived since the previous month's
CDROM, a continuously updated set
of widely used "base tools" such as
arc hi vers, editors, compilers, text proc-
essors, etc, and possibly a few toys
Fish on CD
like the most popular PD games, and a
random selection of older material on a
space available basis.
There will also be a quarterly CD-
ROM containing the archived form of
all the previous new material from the
monthly CD-ROM's to date, plus as
much of the floppy distribution as will
fit.
When the floppy distribution reach-
es 1000 disks, there will be a CD-ROM
with the contents of the entire floppy
library (assuming it can he made to fit)
and die library will migrate to CDROM
distribution only (expected to happen in
early 1994). This gives floppy users
some time to upgrade, but as of disk
9 1 not all the new stuff will be on
the floppies anyway. The only way
to get EVERYTHING will be to
get the CD, or get access to some-
one who has.
Initial prices to Australia will
be SUS25 for any CD-ROM or-
dered before the CD-ROM master
is committed to production, which
is expected to be late September or
early October, and $US35 per
CDROM, for any ordered later.
For more information contact
Fred Fish at 1835 East Belmont
Drive Tempe, AZ 85284 USA, or
fax USA (602) 491-0048.
Amiga Expo in
Melbourne
World of Commodore Australia 1993
was a great success with large attend-
ances and great bargains to be had by
all. The only problem for many people
was that it was, as usual, held in Syd-
ney.
To make amends for this, one of Mel-
bourne's active Amiga Users Groups is
holding an Amiga Expo for one day on
Sunday the 31st of October 1993 at the
Es send on Community Centre, Moonee
Ponds.
The list of exhibitors is growing with
most of Melbourne's big dealers already
signed up. OpalTcch with their
OpalVision board will be showing off
their latest hardware and software.
Computa Magic and MVB Computer
Supplies will be there. Power Peripher-
als are also coming with their latest hard-
ware and there will be many other ex-
citing things to see. Virtual Reality will
be there, along with Amiga based mar-
ket research and Chris Hames with his
latest versions of Dir Work and PC-
Task.
During the day there will be free
seminars running, covering topics from
beginner to advanced.
A fantastic door prize donated by
two local dealers will be won by the
lucky person whose entry voucher is
selected.
Hopefully there will be some great
bargains to be had like those at World
of Commodore.
If you live in Melbourne and missed
out on World of Commodore then keep
your diary free and don't miss an action
packed day!
Enquiries to: North West Amiga Us-
ers Group, PO Box 248, Coburg Vic
3058. Fax: (03) 376 6180.
TBCPIus desktop
video must
And while we're talking about GVP,
they've also released the TBCPIus, an
internal broadcast quality video process-
ing card for any Amiga with a free Zorro
II slot. The TBCPlus's features include
infinite window eight bit 4:2:2 time base
correcting with all digital signal process-
ing, real time 24 bit frame grabbing and
frame buffering with software provid-
ed, and a full SMFfE/EBU time code
receiver/generator operating in all VrTC/
LTC formats and standards.
The TBCPIus transcodes composite
and Y/C inputs into simultaneous com-
posite and Y/C outputs and includes
full video processing amp controls. It
includes a three channel video input
switcher, and a programmable special
effects generator. The TBCPIus will also
convert NTSC, PAL or SECAM video
formats to NTSC or PAL. Again, the
Australian price isn't finalised but it'll
be distributed by Power Peripherals,
NewTek Screamer
burns rubber
NewTek, makers of the popular
American format Video Toaster video
effects system, have released an out-
board graphics processor for the system
that makes it the fastest graphics ma-
chine per dollar ever seen - and one of
the fastest in the world, full stop. The
new Screamer has nothing to do with
the Amiga architecture that drives the
Toaster - it plugs in on the outside.
It contains four MIPS R4400 proces-
sors, giving over 600MIPS system per-
formance, or abut 30 times the power of
an A4000/040. What this means is that
for $US 10,000 or so plus the price of
the Toaster, you get animation and ren-
dering performance that used to cost,
that's right, the thick end of a hundred
grand. Unfortunately the Toaster is still
NTSC format, which makes it useless
for Australia (and most other countries),
where the PAL broadcast system is used.
ACAR12
At last. The computer show for the family. Apple Acorn Commodore
IBM Amstrad Sega Brashs and more! Educational software Home business
applications Electronic games Acorn child play area and free advice Experience the
incredible world of virtual reality. Three days of computer heaven
Royal Exhibition Building
Melbourne 3-5 Dec. 1993
Friday latenight 10am - 9pm - Saturday & Sunday 10am - 7pm
3E5 Australian Exhibition Services Pty Ltd llfoura Plaza 424 St Kilda Road Melbourne 3004 Free Call 008 335 01 Tel |03J 867 4500 Fax |03| 867 7981
IS*
THIS COUPON IS VALID FOR
One Adult or One Child
(5 to 16 years old).
Children under 5 - Free.
* Normal admission charges -Adult $9, Child $6.
Maxim urn of one coupon per person.
Coupons must be presented on entry.
WIN. The Ultimate Multimedia Home
Entertainment Centre. Valued at $9500.00
Raffles & Bingo Board Permit applied for. {Conditions of entry on display at entrance]
Simply complete the entiy form at show entrance. Maximum of one entry per person.
Prize assembled by PC User Magazine.
COCKIE 0J*8 OK
Australian Exhibition Services Pty Ltd llioura Plaza 424 St Kilda Road Melbourne 3004 Free Call 008 335 1 Tel (03) 867 4500 Fax (03} 867 798 1
LETTERS
™ EDITOR
CD32, WB2.X, SCSI
on the 1200?
1) Recently in a British magazine I
came across the technical advice col-
umn, where somebody asked if you can
configure an ASOO's trapdoor RAM as
chip RAM. Their reply was yes, bat
they didn't say how. Can you tell me
how to do this?
2) Since getting WB2.0, Syslnfo gives
me, and my best friend, different infor-
mation - 1 now run at 0.97 times normal
500/600 speed. And my memory is now
listed as 24-bit DMA. What do these
mean? Why the change?
3) When I checked out an A 1200 in
my local computer store, I found it has
a SCSI hard drive, not an IDE. Why do
Australian 1200s get a better drive than
UK ones?
4) Will the Amiga CD 32 come with
Workbench 4? Will keyboards be im-
mediately available for it? Is it basically
a 32 bit, AGA CDTV with a new ROM
in a console case? Will it be able to play
normal music CDs? And, most impor-
tantly, are Commodore going to adver-
tise it?
Sam Moran,
Wagga Wagga
Ed: 1 ) Thanks for reminding us about
the chip RAM hack - we'll publish an
article on it soon. It's too complex to
explain in a letter answer, but not too
complex for many users to perform.
2) Workbench 2 has higher system
overheads because of its much greater
power - it makes your machine run sig-
nificantly slower. On accelerated ma-
chines you'd never notice, but it does
show up on 68000 systems. And your
RAM always had 24 bit DMA - it's just
that only WB2 lets Syslnfo see it!
3) The A 1200 you looked at DID
have an IDE drive. The IDE drive is
controlled by the scsi. device, because
the controller hardware emulates a SCSI
drive. It's not SCSI, though, so it's slow-
er, you can only plug in two drives, and
you can't use a SCSI drive with a 1200
without a trapdoor expansion board.
4) Workbench 4 is still very much in
development, and will match the AAA
chip set, the next one up from the AGA
in the 1200. You can't plug a keyboard
into the CD 32 as it stands, but there's a
honking great expansion connector on
the back so obviously it's a future op-
tion. Since the CD 32 uses cut down
A 1200 hardware, it'll run WB3.x. It IS
basically an AGA CDTV. It DOES play
music CDs, and video CDs too with the
MPEG module. And Commodore have
farmed CD 32 publicity out to a differ-
ent company, so we should see some
pretty serious ads.
A1200-FPUand
clock?
1 intend to buy an A 1 200 soon, but
I've noticed that an FPU and clock are
options. Are these options available at
the moment, or is CBM holding out on
us all?
Also, is there anything like Toaster
Cozzy for the A3000 available for the
console Amigas?
Dan Langford
Brisbane, Qld
Ed: Well Dan, Commodore make
A 1 200s with coprocessors in them, but
the standard Australian model doesn't
have one. You could order in a
coprocessor version but it will probably
take a while. A better solution would be
to buy one of the RAM expansion boards
which include a coprocessor socket, and
the processor in there can be clocked
much faster than the Commodore ver-
sion. Commodore don't make a clock
for the A 1200, but there are third party
solutions - like Microbotics' 12 A'Clock
- which do the job for about $50.
There's no extra video hardware for
the console machines.
Australian National
Analogy Festival
Following your July article, it seems
to me that PCs and their use are analo-
gous to the experience of shopping in
Sydney. Let me explain.
David Jones. Not many about, but
good at what they do. Friendly environ-
ment. You can enter the store from many
entrances on many levels, frequently
assisted by a doorman. You can get eve-
rything from fashion to fridges. The pric-
es are sometimes higher, but so's the
quality. A bit light-on in everyday items
like food, but what there is tastes fine.
Very flexible, not always cheap, but
excellent value. The Amiga.
Target They' re everywhere. All the
same - but some are bigger and have
better service. Access via the one wide
entrance. Quite a large range of prod-
ucts, many of them Target's own brand.
You won't find a fridge but they've got
a pretty good esky. Plenty of food, but
it's all pre-packaged and you don't have
a choice about the presentation. Wide
aisles, simple signs to guide you. Plenty
of checkouts, short queues, easy and
painless. The Macintosh.
Woolworths, Access by a single
turnstile, and you'd better grab a trol-
ley. Looks OK, but cheaper than Tar-
get. Lots of shelves packed to the raft-
ers with thousands of products that arc
really just different versions, sizes and
shapes of the same things, each claim-
ACAR 14
ing to be "new and improved" and "the
product of the latest research". No fridge,
but a tacky wine cooler. The use by
dates aren't far in the future. The pro-
prietors claim new, improved methods
of payment and quicker response to the
shopper's demands, but the checkout
stl! has queues. Windows on a name
brand PC.
Franklins. Turnstiles and trolleys
again, but at least without the preten-
sions. Crowded, narrow, cluttered aisles.
The same stuff you found at Woolies,
only cheaper. Most of the products work
if you're careful, read foreign instruc-
tions and stick well within the expiry
dates. No fridge, but plenty of styrofoam
stubbie holders. The checkouts take
time. Lots of it. Next to a howling baby.
You get what you pay for, with a PC
clone.
On a more serious note, the discount
entry vouchers for World of Commo-
dore and the Home Computer Show
were great, but they were printed on the
backs of articles ! Why not place ads on
such backing pages?
Reg Forsailh
LilyfieldNSW
Game prices too high?
After reading the May issue, espe-
cially the letter from Cameron Dry, I
had to air my views. I'm from Hngland
myself, and computer equipment in Aus-
tralia is at least double the price in the
UK, as well as being 4-7 months be-
hind. A £3.95 UK magazine costs
$1 3.95 here - more than triple the price,
and you don't even get the cover disk
every month! I subscribed to the maga-
zine in England, and now gel it much
cheaper AND quicker.
The same thing applies to games - a
£24.95 game in the UK showed up here
months later for $79.95. Where's your
excuse for this one? The UK does, as
you stated, have VAT (17.4%, not 18%).
And Australia's is 20%? OK, when you
order a game from the UK to be sent
overseas, you automatically get 17.4%
knocked off the RRP. So why do games
here cost nearly triple as much?
James Wilson
Victor Harbor SA
Ed: You seem to have your maths a
little confused, James. For a start, UK
pounds and Australian dollars are not
equivalent - in fact there are about 40
pence to the dollar. So your £3.95 mag-
azine costs about $9.90, directly con-
verted, reducing the increase to around
40% rather than 300%. The loss of the
coverdisk is certainly a pain, though.
Since Australia doesn't have sales tax
on software, the £24.95 game would
cost about $51.50 directly converted,
making the increase about 55%. When
you consider that shipping costs right
around the world for small quantities
are exorbitant, the change looks a lot
less outrageous. Evidently Australia's
much lower cost of living has you off
balance - or maybe it's just the heat!
Coverdisk?
A number of letters have raised the
issue of having some sort of disk ac-
companying the magazine. I agree with
them, to an extent. I'm not interested in
two level game demos, public domain
utilities and castrated application dem-
os, but I'd like to see an on-disk index
issued annually, to make it easier to
refer to articles without flipping through
back issues. A run-time version of a
database supplied annually on disk and
fully indexed, including advertisers, for
the preceding five years would be ap-
preciated by people who use AGAR for
reference. Don't you have something
like that for your own use'.'
J H Roddick
Hoppers Crossing Vic
Ed: Here at the ACAR office we
keep all the text from every ACAR on
Sy quest removable hard disk cartridg-
es, which is much simpler than using
any sort of paper. But your idea has
definite merit, and we'll give it some
thought. The work that would have to
go into the disk would be considerable,
though.
A1200 Compatibility
Update
Thanks to Joshua Maley for this up-
date to the A 1200 compatibility list in
the May edition. He also notes that the
LETTERS
original version of Shadow of the Beast
//actually works with the A 1200, with
a few graphic glitches.
Games that run without
problems:
Conquests of Came lot, Bard's Tale
II, Zak McKracken and the Alien
Mindbenders, Lord of the Rings (Inter-
play), runs from hard disk Adventures
of Robin Hood, Myth, Obitus, Barbari-
an (Psygnosis), Indiana Jones and the
Temple of Doom, Invade re raft (slightly
sped up).
Applications that work fine:
Kindwords 2,0, Fantavision, DPaint
///and IV.
Games that run with
restrictions:
Shadow of the Beast II (C), will also
operate normally, Indy - The Action
Game (C) (E) The Faery Tale Adven-
ture (C), music doesn't work, The Last
Ninja III (memory problems) (C), Ninja
Remix (C) (E), ESwat (C) (E), Interna-
tional Karate +, shaky graphics St rider
(C) (E), Loom (C) (E), disable hard
drive, etc, Indy - The Graphic Adven-
ture (C) (E), ditto above, Where in the
World is Carmen Sandiego? (C) (E),
Technacop (C) (E), etc, Deathtrap (C)
(E), etc, Onslaught (C) (E), Stormlord
(C) (E), shaky graphics, Ninja Mission
(C) (E).
Applications that run with
restrictions:
XCopy III, ACAR Hints Disks,
Iniellitype, DPrint.
Games that won't run:
The Running Man, Ghouls 'n '
Ghosts, Return of the Jedi, War In Mid-
dle Earth, Rick Dangerous (I & II),
Robocop, Impossible Mission II,
Blasteroids, Live and Let Die, Kick Off,
Turbo Out Run, Leaderboard Golf, Stunt
Car Racer, Battleships, 3-D Pacman,
Double Dragon, Rolling Thunder.
(C)= Disable CPU-Cashes
(E) = Chips in ECS-Mode or just
worse graphics, less/no sound.
ACAR 15
DELUXE PAINT AGA
Deluxe Paint
by Graham Bowden
Sydney's WOC show was a bargain
buyers bonanza again this year and
those of you who were unable to
attend have probably already been thor-
oughly depressed with tales of supercheap
wares. Far be it from me to amplify your
agony but 1 must say this, it would have
taken a steel will to walk away from the
show without having at least a small dent
in the pocketbook.
A decent hard drive backup program
(AmiBack + Tools) and a Workbench 3.0
compatible wordprocessor (ProWrite)
were on my agenda along with a hand
scanner. The software found its way into
my possession with a minimum of fuss
but the scanner will have to await another
show.
Oh dear! Steel wills turn to wet card-
board when confronted with an A 1200
complete with 2 megs of chip RAM plus
a - smallish - 40 meg hard drive at an
asking price less than what was required
for a trusty old half meg hard-drivc-lcss
A500 back in '89.
Tis a pity though that the where-with-
all didn't stretch to a multi-sync or ex-
panded memory with FPU but at least
some of DPaint AGA 's extended features
can be explored.
What's new for DPaint
Time flew while I was having fun and
in the interim quite a few improvements
were visited upon DPaint. Version 4.1,
which introduced a few enhancements,
has been and gone since Deluxe Paint
was last reviewed in these pages.
Now the AGA version has been re-
leased with a few more upgrades to fur-
ther its appeal and complement the new
chipsets. Unfortunately some of the short-
comings of the original DPaint 4.0 have
AGA
carried through to the latest version. How-
ever, on the whole - and at least until the
mmoured Brilliance arrives - Deluxe Paint
remains a highly desirable and creative
piece of software. So what have they
done?
Deluxe Paint 4,1 brought extended col-
our selection to the Palette and Range
requesters. Now a range of colours can be
selected by simply picking the first col-
our men holding down the Alt key while
choosing a second colour further along
the palette.
When the mouse button is released
watch DPaint pick up all the intervening
shades. It's a nice touch. The palette mark-
ers every four colour spots make select-
ing a specific number of colours a little
easier.
Problems
Not so nice are the continuing prob-
lems with colour cycling. Custom brushes
still refuse to multi-cycie unless the "Rate"
slider for the brush's colour range is
moved above the default zero selling. If a
palette colour has been placed more than
once on the Range requester bar and that
range is then used in a custom brush,
expect the brush colours to be perma-
nently and irreversibly changed after a
Multi-cycle operation has been carried oul.
And the old colour cycling bugbear
remains. If colours are placed on the Range
bar with intervening spaces then DPaint
chooses its own colours from the palette
to shade between those you used but when
the Tab key is pressed to initiate cycling,
m
,'"
£^l
PhV.MII'*-
■■■■1 «■■■■■■■■■
!■■■■■!
■■■
■■■■■■ ■■■
■■■■■■■■■■■
■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■'
All those colours AND we're in Hi-Res
ACAR 16
DELUXE PAINT AGA
the colours selected by the program don't
cycle. Perhaps at the next upgrade?
Clipboard
Cut and Paste!
The Brush menu has a couple of inter-
esting new items in the form of Copy and
Paste selections. Custom brushes can be
copied to the system clipboard and saved
there for later use or transferred to an-
other clipboard supporting program. It
works like this.
Grab a custom brush and select Copy
from the Brush menu or use the keyboard
equivalent of right Amiga/c. Now grab
another brush, in fact pick up as many
subsequent brushes as you please. When
the first brush is required again select
Paste from the Brush menu or right Amiga/
v from the keyboard and the original brush
will be instantly restored.
Or how about this. With DPaini AGA
running in the background boot up your
graphics supporting word processor
(ProWrite, Final Copy U etc). When a
picture is to be loaded into the document
just pick it up as a brush from Deluxe
Paint's screen, copy it onto the clipboard,
step back into the word processor and
select Paste, The brush will be pasted from
the clipboard into the document.
You want to alter a picture that's al-
ready in a document? Simple. Cutting the
offending graphic from the manuscript
will cause it to be placed on the system
clipboard. Now step into DPaini AGA
and select Paste from the Brush menu.
Instantly the brush is imported into
Deluxe Paint ready for any alterations
required. Probably though the first altera-
tions necessary will be to restore the
brush's colours to their original glory.
Word processors, you see, tend to distort
the colours to suit their own palette. Be
that as it may, this new cut and paste
brush feature is a definite leap forward
and don't forget, the IconEdit program in
the Tools drawer is another clipboard user.
Also new to the Brush menu is a "Free"
selection for standard custom brushes.
Selecting Brush/Free will dump the brush
and free up any memory that was being
used by it. Regular users will be aware
that this ability has always been available
for animbrushes.
Tablet support
The Effects menu has yet another ex-
citing new feature upon which I can only
theorize. It's the Pressure feature and is
exclusively available to those fortunate
enough to be blessed with a pressure sen-
sitive Graphics Tablet. Would that one of
my local Amiga hardware suppliers could
find it in their heart to allow a test of one
of these little beasties There seems to be a
dearth of dealers or wholesalers willing
to allow comparison tests of any Amiga
hardware in this country.
If anyone's listening and your place of
business is in the Brisbane area, feel free
to contact mc post haste to arrange a test
drive and write up within these pages. For
now though I can only say that the Pres-
sure feature allows either brush size or
translucency - or both - to be varied on
the fly with pen pressure changes on the
tablet surface. What more can I say.
Golden Gate
386sx/25Mhz $999
486slc/25Mhz incl. 2Mb Ram $1499
Fastest IBM Bridgeboard for A2000/3000/4000
ATonce-Plus
286/16Mhz IBM AT Emulator
Amiga 2000 and 500 $299
CD-ROM NEC SCSI External $499
MBX1200 8Mb ram card incl. clock $299
VXL-30 25Mhz 68030 accelerator $449
A600 1Mb ram card incl clock $109
170Mb SCSI 3.5" harddrive $499
Syquest 44Mb removable harddrive $529
Monitor switchbox incl cables $99
We can supply duty free to New Zealand
Phone/Write for our free pricelist on disk
Mail order only
Fonhof Computer Supplies
64 Cross Street, Baulkham Hills NSW 2153
Phone (02) 639 77 1 8 Fax (02) 639 5995
Trading 7
years.
Where experience
service and the
customers come
first
(mmsmiimgmmb's).
QaMMS
How about 16.7 million
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Hard Drives SCSI / IDE
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Prices too low to print
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Pro Draw
Page Stream
Final Copy
Art Dept. Pro
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image fx fltfcntipn ft-1200 owners we have Cra ?L p ™!?
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Deluxe Paint « l<"9* ""19* of peripherals just
ssaia for you, come in and see.
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Would you like a world From S699
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ACAR 17
DELUXE PAINT AGA
Workbench 2.x
features
Deluxe Paint AGA now places an
Applconon the Workbench whenever it's
started. An Application Icon is a feature
which arrived with Kickstart 2.0. and by
making use of it, Deluxe Paint 's design-
ers are helping to improve the lot of we
multi-tasking Amigans.
In the past it was frustrating ly neces-
sary to have to "click" through several
custom screens in order to find the one
needed for a particular operation. It really
isn't uncommon for me to have Directory
Opus, Workbench, Deluxe Paint and
ProWrite running simultaneously and it's
frustrating to go clicking or "Right Amiga/
m"ing through these several screens to
find the one I want.
Since Kickstart 2.0 the custom screen
of any program that places an Applcon
on the Workbench is instantly accessible.
Just double click the icon. Projects - in
this case pictures - can also be loaded by
dragging their icon onto the DPaintAGA
Applcon, What could be simpler?
Certainly not the opening screen mode
and colour selection screen. Not that I'm
complaining. It's become Amiga industry
standard and now looks a lot like the
Preferences Screenmode window. It has a
daunting array of choices. There are no
less than 18 screen modes, 6 screen sizes
including Standard, four overscans plus
Custom, 8 page sizes and anything from
2 to 256 colours to choose from as well as
the new HAM-8. Beautiful, isn't it?
In all previous releases of Deluxe Paint
on my old A500 I never found it neces-
sary to use the Be Square item from the
Prefs menu. I've even written a tutorial
on the subject which, when it's published
can be partly ignored.
That's because with the AGA release
and on later Kickstart versions of the op-
erating system, Be Square is of paramount
importance. Because of the odd shaped
pixels, circles and squares are not circular
or square when operating on an interlaced
Lo-Res or non-interlaced Hi-Res screen
on later Amigas. Be Square however ad-
justs the shapes to make them round or
square as they're being drawn. Now, with
DPaintAGA, this feature also works on
built in brushes so that all those brushes
at the top of the toolbox can now be used
undistorted.
Annoying changes
Not so the new requester windows.
They've been distorted by transposing the
"Cancel" and "OK" buttons at the bottom
of windows. This conforms to industry
standards once again, but power users,
until they scale the learning curve, will
find themselves inadvertently cancelling
selections rather than locking them in.
That is until it becomes a habit to use
the keyboard shortcuts which requesters
now have. These shortcuts are represented
in a style reminiscent of MS-DOS practice
with underlined characters within the re-
quester windows. The Fill Type requester
for instance has fill type buttons printed
as Line Shap Cir Cont and Hi with Ok
and Cancel at the bottom of the requester.
If you feel lost, helpless and confused,
Just follow this signpost!
Call about incredible specials on Deluxe Paint IV
and Deluxe Paint AGA!
Brilliance now also in stock,
CD32 Enquiries welcome!
Find you need a really useful piece of software to
organise your day - Use "Keep Track"
Call for more info.
I hope that the Tupsoft Twins' first ride in a farge plane
was a much more lifting experience than lunch time by
the window!
G'Day to my friend Daniel out at Cowra, Great hearing
from you - stay in touch!
U
MOVED TO BIGGER
PREMISES:
Shop 7, Peninsula Plaza
20 Bungan St
Mona Vale NSW 2103
Ph: (02) 979 5833
Fax: (02) 997 5641
AGAR 18
DELUXE PAINT AGA
Standardisation lias visited the Quit
function as well, with right Amiga/q now
quitting rather than the old Sniff q. The
text in pop-out menus has been shifted up
just a little to enable the first pop-out
menu item to be aligned with the mouse
pointer rather than just below it.
To my mind it's questionable as to
whether this saves time when selecting
features. The palette requester now has a
Scale button which simply remaps the
colours used for ihe menu bar and toolbox
if a loaded picture's palette cause them to
be unreadable.
The Deluxe Paint 4. 1 release changed
the operation of the "All/Right Amiga"
key combination when animpainting. Pre-
viously this key combination would stamp
a brash down and step to the following
anirn frame. Now the frame step no longer
occurs. The Animpainting feature has not
been lost however. Holding down the Alt
key and stamping the brush down using
the mouse will still step forward a frame.
New to D Paint AG A is the Clear Screen
function in animation mode. A single
How would you
like a 105Mb 3.5"
removable hard
disk.
The NEW 3.5" SCSI 2 Syquest re-
movable hard drives are reliable, val-
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very quick. For security and comve-
nience, for backup and portability a
Syquest drive is the answer. The
NEW SCSI 2 Syquest 3.5" drives are
available as external and internal
models and take full advantage of the
SCSI 2 standards of the new Amiga
machines to achieve 4Mb/sec transfer
rates. CPA have a limited number
units. Call now for more information.
Internal + 1 cartridge $1399.00
External +1 cartridge $1499.00
NEW Quantum SCSI 2
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frame can be cleared by left button click-
ing the "CLR" icon in the Toolbox. Right
button clicking will call up the Clear re-
quester from which a range of frames
may be selected.
So once again loads of enhancements
have been added but there are still more
things I'd like to see included.
What's missing?
Like bezier curves for instance with a
user defined number of bending points.
And how about an imbru sties which can
be "lassoed" rather than being stuck with
the current rectangular selection. What
about also allowing a user definable "Z"
dimension (thickness) to custom brushes
so that when they're rotated to 90 degrees
they don't disappear.
Wrap fills that produce concave as well
as the current convex shapes would also
be nice along with the ability to be able to
select wrapping in the vertical or horizon-
tal planes only. It would be nice to be
able to wrap a brush onto a gradient map
as well in the manner of SpectraColor.
This would allow a custom brush to wrap
down into darker colours and up over
lighter shades. Then there's graduated
blending, something at which DigiPaint
excels. Graduated blending occurs when
a brush is blended over a picture so that
the brush colours are totally opaque in the
centre of the brush (or user defined area)
and gradually become transparent towards
the edges. I'd like to able to do this with-
out changing programs.
And finally wouldn't it be nice to have
some sort of basic picture manipulation
within the program. Personal Paint has
done it so let's see DPaint do it. A little
edge detecting or embossing can add some
striking effects to the artwork.
Apart from that Electronic Arts has
done it again. Deluxe Paint continues to
move onward and upward and still leads
the pack as an affordable, painting soft-
ware package. Go out and get your up-
grade today.
Distributed by Electronic Arts (075)
91 1 388. RRP $249.95. Upgrade $55.00.
Tools for Graphics & Video
OpalVision ^^HBF'
The 24 -b i I video £ *---39gHr,- S j : .7
& graphics solution. ^^^^^^^^^™
Enhancement Modules
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modelling, single frame record.
iV24 Version 2.0 The serious Video
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Soon full support for Real 3D Version 2,
EMPLANT $799.00
Mac/PC emulator board with optional Mat high
speed Serial pons, Apple Talk M &. SCSI. Full
Amiga colour in AGA & 2-4-bit, plus Multi-tasking.
100% compatible with most Mac and PC Software.
80-85% speed of Quadra!
S-VHS/Betacarn
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CPA Amiga Stop Frame Controller
$1200.00
New Equipment.
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Ph. (02) 337 6255
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ACAR 19
PC TASK
PC-Task
MS-Dos Emulation without
Hardware
I regularly exchange graphics, word-
processing documents, spreadsheet
tiles and database information be-
tween the Amiga and PC. Indeed, many
Amiga applications load and save files
from popular MS-DOS programs with-
out a hitch.
At the heart of the Amiga is the
mighty Motorola 68000 series proces-
sor. A powerful beast by any measure,
but it speaks a language most unlike the
Intel CPU powering IBM compatibles.
So although I can also move an MS-
DOS program onto my machine, it will
not run without an emulator.
Justifying the cost of a hardware
based IBM emulators to solve this prob-
lem is difficult when a complete PC can
be had for little more money.
PC-Task, an Australian produced
software emulator, offers an acceptable
alternative. At $69, it enables you to
happily run most. well-behaved DOS
software.
Now I should make it perfectly clear
this may at times seem like wading
through molasses in mid-winter. Emu-
lators are, by nature of the demanding
task they perform, slow.
As PC-Task runs an IBM program, it
must convert each instruction to some-
thing the Motorola CPU in the Amiga
can understand. Some clever lads who
have already created fast and reliable
Apple Macintosh emulation promise to
solve this problem.
They say by converting the IBM soft-
ware to Amiga before the emulation
commences, a dramatic increase in speed
is attained. Emplant, a Macintosh emu-
lator available now for the Amiga, will
use this technique to run MS-DOS soft-
ware in the future.
Using PC-Task, running the latest
MS-DOS games is out of the question.
Windows will definitely not work and
the latest version of MS-DOS has prob-
lems. On my machine the speed is com-
parable to a fast IBM 2S6. DOS users
will tell you this is acceptable for
wordprocessing.
by Andrew Farrell
However the Amiga has no equiva-
lent to the PC's text based video mode.
So, despite the processing speed, text
scrolling is slow. Amiga applications
have no such trouble since they work
more efficiently with the operating sys-
tem to achieve fast text refreshing.
Up and running
PC-Task is easy to install. Drag the
icon to wherever you want and you're
ready to go. There's a special version
for accelerated machines and additional
utilities which run under MS-DOS.
These arc unpacked and placed on a
720K DOS disk automatically.
A single configuration screen allows you to adjust how PC-Task
•uses Amiga resources
This Is ues*sioft 2.83
£&s*tit8:t«54t
: &ua$;ir, Dtstrifefltiofi.
; '"■ •::'.:. ".r.'.L ; . St act:
fieftrcouw
'$r<B>hiss adapter : gl : .W ■
■«re^
Ml
Use. S^Hal
HsePsral.U,l
.■PriwMfcsr-'t&Mt selected ■■-..£% jtr
Rt- terlti* «he» not selected: £\ ~'I !i
tfOBarp Kilobytes* - £• -7-M -id
Hiii«UR Oawe 'flitfrt tMMe . ' : ' ' Si '12- ■: Mi
Use defaults
S am;fa ttf i$
Suit
ACAR 20
Hie liSSHiKSs.:; Mode*
HHSHi^m
Terminal type
Com port
ran ty
data Bits
Stop bits
Echo characters
Flow control
reset tei>ninaL
line to Oait
pSinter port
enable local printer
fore Ground colour
bAck^round colour
115,608
Select data rate
PC-Task will happily run programs such as communications software which can
take advantage of the Amiga's parallel or serial pom
The opening PC -Task screen pro-
vides control over memory allocation,
selection of serial and parallel ports, col-
ours, priority and creation of a virtual
hard disk. The latest version supports
MGA, CG A and VGA - with some VGA
modes requiring the AGA chip-set to
display 256 colours. You can use your
Amiga mouse with PC software by ac-
tivating the built-in mouse driver.
Disk options
With most PC software arriving on
high-density disks these days, you'll
probably want to seriously consider pur-
chasing an appropriate floppy drive.
Amiga 4000 and some 3000 owners
will already have a drive capable of
accessing these disks.
If you wish to use your hard disk
with PC-Task there's the option of us-
ing a virtual hard drive or working with
a dedicated partition. A virtual drive
creates a file which must be FDISKed
and formatted under MS-DOS. It's the
slower but more flexible alternative. You
can use a Bridgeboard virtual hard disk
file if you've still got one kicking
around.
By creating a special mountHst entry
and taking advantage of the include
hardlile.de vice, it's possible to access a
PC-Task hard disk directly from
AmigaDOS. This is ideal for transfer-
ring large files, although the setup pro-
cedure is not for beginners.
Conclusion
Despite its limitations, PC-Task has
found a place on my Workbench. I fell
in love with Idea Fisher, a knowledge
database package not available on the
Amiga, With PC Task, I can flick be-
tween IdeaFisher and other Amiga pro-
grams using my mouse.
Multitasking has its advantages too.
My favourite Amiga pop up phone book
opens on the MS-DOS screen and when
IdeaFisher is busy doing a complex
search, it's no trouble to bring an Amiga
application screen to the front and con-
tinue working.
The documentation is well written,
although some of the more technical
areas leave some things open to experi-
mentation. A compatibility list would
be useful too.
With so much MS-DOS software to
choose from, it makes sense to have
PC -Task handy to help fill the gaps in
your Amiga library. In terms of emula-
tion performance, PC-Task does remark-
ably well especially considering it is
entirely software based. For the money,
there's no cheaper PC on the market.
More information is available from
Quasar Distribution (03) 585 1074, Q
Australian Commodore &
AMIGA
r or Professional and Home Users ^RcvlcZif
Make sure of
getting your copy
Subscribe now!
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12issuesAus $68.00
ACAR 21
DISASTER RECOVERY
Ami-Back Tools
vs
QuarterBack Tools Deluxe
Daniel Flutter investigates recovery software
ore and more Amiga users have
hard drives. While the most
common Amiga is still a plain
A500, there are now hundreds of thou-
sands of hard disk equipped machines.
When you've got a hard drive, you
need to back it up and you need some
way to recover data if you accidentally
annihilate it. Some users don't own any
such software; presumably they also pre-
fer the invigorating smack of the wind-
screen on their face to the inconven-
ience of wearing a seat bell.
Backup software allows you to lake
the data on your hard drive and move it
onto floppy disks, or faster media like
removable hard disk cartridges or tape
drives. If you back up regularly, even
the most cataclysmic failure of the drive
won't destroy invaluable data.
Recovery software, on the other hand,
allows you to get data back without
going to a backup. This is helpful be-
cause even the most diligent backup
regime won't do more than one backup
a day, and so it's still possible to lose a
day's work if your hard drive kicks the
bucket or, more often, you stuff some-
thing up yourself.
If, like most people, you're backing
up to floppy, it's likely you back up a
lot less often than daily, and so good
recovery software is essential, for eve-
rything from simply undeleting files to
rebuilding horrible errors caused by
power cuts or foolish reboots during
write operations. Everybody who's used
a computer for a while has felt that
sudden, cold sliver of panic that comes
as your eye spots the drive light flicker-
ing back on, but your nervous system
works too slowly to stop the fateful three
keys being depressed...
Recovery packages also typically in-
clude optimisation features. These take
a hard drive which, over time and with
many deletions and creations, has had
its files spread in little bits all over the
disk, and reunite all the lumps into con-
tinuous files. If your drive is running
significantly slower than it did when
new, and loading larger files seems to
Quarterback Tools' Disk Editor lets you modify your disk devices
from the ground up
d j Edit Volume:" Data
ed iq:
J^U_*Li
Bbck: i 242,720 Dec|x| Re-ReM I '.'■■ rh:.r :
".• Field: f~
Type: Root
J0888888
9E7FF78
8008888
I003B4D8
1006E431
I083EF88
18888B88
I883EFBC
18 8 8 8888
8888888
8888888
883B49D
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18051853
80462RC
8808888
I80B8886
I88364CF.
I886F260
!88B8008
8838423
003E427
.003B42B
I803B42F
I803B433
803B437
8881658
1888008
8880008
8008888
0801 630
8888888
88808888
888880FR
88880000
0083B4SB
00888000
00088880
08088888
08888888
80888808
88841428
00800888
08888088
88888000
08800000
00B3B4D1
00088888
00888880
8883EFBF
88888800
FFFFFFFF
8 88 3 B4 24
8883842 8
0083 B42C
88838438
00838434
88838438
8888856B
88008888
8 8888688
08001658
0888858B
88800000
00808848
0003B4CB
00088888
88808888
8883B4DC
88888888
88808088
888S&26C
0883B4&?
88880800
0003B48E
00838486
8883 B4g|
88800088
08046282
08008888
B8844D3E
08888888
0B83B421
88838425
0003B429
0003B42&
8803B431
88038435
88830439
088883F5
88888888
80008888
0000859C
8 8 08 6 38 D
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ACAR 22
The AMiGA and CDTV Specialists
Scanners
Auto ROM Share
Software for the Pro'sl
If you 're in the market for a hand
scanner then forget the rest and get
Puwerscan
Aniiga Format July 1992
Power Scanner v3 .0
■ 100-400 DPI scanning resolutions
M 64 grayscales
M Thru "port for printer
■ Award winning editing, image
manipulation &scanning software
Po wer S canner v 3 .0 $399
Power Scanner Colour $599
Upgrade Otters
If you consider your scanner system to be
inferior to the Power Scanner, we will liappily
upgrade your software and interface. (Power
Scanner is compatible with most scanning
heads)
V3.0 Upgrade (inc. interface)... .$113
V3.0 Software upgrade for PowerScanner
users(send SAB). .340
The Amiga can ■only disfrfay lei greyscaleK
H
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Experience the thrill of recording and
manipulating music with your Amiga.
i Includes digitising package plus
professional editing software.
Use sound samples in your own programs
Now only UI25.95!
Power Midi Interface
■ Quality interface.
■ In, (hit and Thru
Plus our usual
large range of
AMIGA and CDTV
Products
■ Kick off is the latest
■ One of the most advanced kickstart ROM
sharers available
n A clever design on a small reliable board
sa No "CIA adapter" or other trailing wires
■ Jumper to select which ROM hoots first
■ Simple internal fitting
■ Change ROMS without powering
down.
ROM Share $49.95
, Video Backup System Z
M Use VCK lis a huckup .storage device
■ Wank video lain; is all that is reuuired
h 20(1 Amiga floppy disks will lit on a 4
Ik iu r tape
■ Can he used lor hard disk hack up
M There is roam tor I75MI1 of data
m Backup an Amiga disk in I minute
■ Allows you to watch VCK on 1 IIS4 Mm
■ Effective error correction
Video Backup System $160
inorv
PC i 2i)4 4MII Memory Ex pans ion
for the Commodore Amiga 1200
Power Computings inovative 4MB 32 bit
memory expansion for the A 1200 is now
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« Zero Wait State-Urdike some other
expansions the PC 1204 allows your amiga
to run at its maximum speed.
■ Ultra Fast FPU- An optional madis co-
processor speeds up intensive calculations.
A 50 MHZ chip wdl speed up operations by
up to 50 times.
■ Real- Time I lattery hacked up clock-
Allows files to be date stamped.
■ Low Power- High Density RAM's mean
low power consumption.
■ Easy to lit- Fitted in minutes without the
need to remove the computers case.
■ Optional IT'U Disahle Switch- Disable die
FPU instantly for software that will not run
with a maths Co -processor installed.
PC1II24 4MR with clock, un FPU $4X9
PCKI24 4MB with clock, 2(1 Mil/, FPU $67U
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DISASTER RECOVERY
need an awful lot of drive activity, it
probably needs optimisation.
A while ago, the only way to go for
Amiga hard disk backup and mainte-
nance was QuarterBack and
QuarterBack Tools. This was mainly
because QB and QBT, as their next of
kin knew them, were just about all there
was. You could duplicate all of their
features with other PD, Shareware and
commercial products, but nobody else
had everything in one place.
All this changed with the arrival of
Ami-Back, reviewed a while ago now,
and Ami -Back Tools (ABT from now
on), which has also been out locally for
a couple of months now. I've now used
ABTools on a few dead drives, and am
really pleased with its performance.
"get data back
without going
to a backup"
But it's not alone any more.
QuarterBack has struck back with
Quarterback Tools Deluxe (QBTD from
now on), and suddenly nobody's clearly
superior any more.
ABT beats the old QBT by miles in
every department, but against QBTD
it's even in most respects. Both pro-
grams have a nice interface instead of
the clunky old WBl.x look of QBT.
And both run acceptably quickly, against
the legendary slowness of QBT, which
could take more than three hours to scan
a large (lgB) drive for lost files and
then fail to find them, as opposed to
ABT's 40 minutes and complete suc-
cess.
Doing tests on file recovery is diffi-
cult. It's easy to stuff up a hard drive,
but real errors are infinite in variety
and, by definition, impossible to repro-
duce identically for different programs
to have a shot at fixing. But we've now
used both ABT and QBTD on several
stuffed hard drives and they both out-
perform QBT without raising a sweat.
; Recover Lost/Deieteci Fifes ; App 5
E3JEB
Tagged files:
Total files:
Recover to:
523
Scar I -Enter ] : 1-^1
52s options J =!Sife!!fj ;l::ttij:;:;I
Same volume |_ZJ |D&': . I §|
<§>
Building list of files.
6%
Cance:
oej
Recovering damaged/ties is easy with both Quarterback and Amihack
Note, though, that if your drive has
suffered physical damage you've got
all the hope of a chicken in a blast fur-
nace - if your data is really valuable
there are super-high tech firms that can
try to recover it for you. but otherwise
forget it.
QBTD comes out distinctly ahead in
one respect, though. If you scan a fair
sized drive with ABT, taking say 15
minutes, and end up with more files
than you can fit on one device or simply
change your mind about what you want
to recover after starting the operation,
you have to rescan the whole drive
again. QBTD makes it simpte to select
more files from the list, which is a sig-
nificant plus.
On the down side. QBTD consist-
ently took about 1 0% longer to scan a
device for lost files. Not a very big deal.
One thing to remember when using
any file recovery or optimisation pro-
gram is that using an external hard disk
cache at the same time can be a bad
idea. ABT includes its own configurable
cache for disk operations (QBTD's disk
manipulation is kept well away from
the user's prying fingers), and extra
cache memory can cause aggrieved mes-
sages from your hard disk controller
device to pop up, which is bad for one's
blood pressure.
For optimisation, QBTD noses ahead
on power but not on speed.
ABT can't optimise files - the most
useful sort of optimisation - unless
there's free space on the disk big enough
to fit the biggest file on the disk into.
This is seldom a problem with hard
drives unless they've got huge
animations or similar monster files on
them, but it makes ABT pretty useless
for optimising floppies.
QBTD, on the other hand, can
optimise a disk with virtually no free
space at all. The trade off is speed;
QBTD optimises every file in sight
whether or not it needs it, ABT passes
over un fragmented files that aren't in
the way. Thus ABT's optimisation ends
up around twice as fast, which could
also have something to do with the 1 Mb
internal cache I've set ABT up to use.
Where both programs will be used
most often is for recovering dead files.
Usually, it's just a file you deleted by
accident - if you immediately run ABT
or QBTD so nothing can have written
over the file data, their undeletion func-
ACAR 24
continued on page 28
n 1 1 1 1 in n q We 9 1 ve * M *• complet e soUtioi !
( UIU UUI lo call Mike, Doug or Jeroen on (02) 477 5353
CIKjCrCQ or fax us your requirements on (02) 476 5736
Solutions Rendered Pty Ltd.
ACN 057923645
Mail & Credit Card orders welcome.
Suite 1, 1st Floor, 189 Pacific Highway Hornsby NSW 2077
We use and support the products we sell!
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» Pixel 3D Professional
ft ImageMaster R/T 1.0
» ADPro Tools V2
• Fontasia - 300 CG Fonts.
' Hoopy Paint - The Paint program for Kids!
■ TapeWorm FS - Makes a tape drive act like
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UMAX Scanners - 600 & 1200dpi colour
A4 Flatbed scanners now available.
Blue Ribbon Soundworks - Full range of
hardware & software products available soon!
Workbench 2.1 - Upgrade kits available now.
TypeSmith 2.0 - Now with auto tracing and
full bitmap font support.
Hot Products
i V Lab Y/C Frame grabber
i Retina 24 bit Display Card
> TV Paint 2.0 for Retina.
'4Mb Ram Boards for A 1200
Epson A4 Flat Bed Scanners
OpalVision (Inc. Opal Paint V2).
CalComp Graphics Tablet.
G-Lock High Quality Genlock
Brilliance
Real 3D V2
Scala MM210 AGA
Art Dept. Professional
Come in for a demo of any of the
above products and many more!
HOT SOFT^V A RE ' p " ces subiect to ctan9e v *™ 1 "<**
Ami Back 2 69
AmiBack Tools 69
Amiback+ Tools 120
Anim Workshop 85
AFtexx Cookbook 75
Art Department Pro 275
Art Expression 259
ASDG Epson Scanner driver 179
ASDG Pro Conversion Pack 95
ASDG Pro Control 85
Asim CDFS with Fish CD 99
Asim VTR 95
Bad 4.0 65
Bars & Pipes Pro V2 399
Brilliance 299
Broadcast Trtler ll-SHR 449
CanDo! V2.5 225
CineMorph 129
Cycleman for Imagine 69
CygnusEd Pro v3.5 129
Deluxe Paint 4 AGA 225
DevpacS 145
Digi-View Media Station 289
Directory Opus V4. 1 1 20
Distant Suns 4.2 95
Electric Thesaurus 40
Essence for Imagine 95
Final Copy II (Release 2) UK 1 69
Flow 1 19
Fontasia - 300 CG Fonts 79
GIFs Galore -CD 49
Hard Disk Organizer 59
HiSoft High Speed Pascal 195
HiSoft Power Basic 99
Hoopy Paint 591
Hollinks 1.1 79
Hotlinks Editions 165
HyperCache Pro 55
Image Club Font Packs 175
ImageFX 425
Imagine 2.0 329
KeepTrack! 79
Kill Da Virus 24
LinkUP! . 59
MakePath for Vistapro 49
Maverick 5.0 55
Morph Plus 285
Morphusforlmagine 135
Pagestream 2.2 169
Pagestream Publishers Pack 399
Pixel 3D Pro
PowerGopy Professional
PowerPacker Pro V4.0A
Professional Page V4
Proper Grammar II
Quarterback 5
Quarterback Tools Deluxe
Real 3D V2
Rexx Plus Compiler
SAS C Dev System V6.3
Scala MM210AGA
Scenery Animator V4
SoftFaces Font packs
SuperBasePro4V1.3
SuperBase Personal 4
TerraForm for VistaPro
TexTiles (24 bit textures)
True Print 24
TV Paint 2 Pro for Retina
TypeSmith
Understanding Imagine 2
Video Director
Vista Pro V3
X-Mem (Virtual Memory}
Your Family Tree
CineMorph
$99
TexTiles
(24 bit textures)
Vol 1 & z
$35 each
Multi-Media & Video Services
• Graphic Design - Illustration, logos etc...
• Rendering & Animation - Cel animation ami
3D Ray -tracing for film or video.
• Multi-Media presentations.
• Frame grabbing - from S-VHS or VHS tapes.
DTP Services available
• Full Colour glossy 300dpi printing service
A4 or A3 prints of your graphic masterpiece.
• Scanning - Up to A4 full colour or B/W
• Complete Artwork and Design service - Illustration,
company logos, business presentations, catalogues, etc
02 524 9846
AGA Trade-up Deals
-1
October Package Deal Specials T^/
| This month Sigmacom is offering Fixed Price upgrades to the New AGA machines - for example ™
Package 1. A500 I III A 1200 $795.00 '^jM
| Amiga 500 1Mb trade up to A 1 200 40Mb HD 2Mb Chip RAM fP^ /-
1 Package 2. A3000 Hilt A4000 030 $1599.00 hmg p
I Amiga 3000 with 52Meg HD 6MbRAM trade up to A4000 030 120Mb HD 2Mb Chip RAM
| Package 3. A3000 Hill A4000 040 $2499.00
I Amiga 3000 with 52Meg HD 6MbRAM trade up to A4000 040 120Mb HD 2Mb Chip RAM
Call for a price on the trade up deal for your machine.
Hard Driving
Quantum prices
still very low!
SCSI Drives
85 Megabytes
$369
120 Megabytes $449
240 Megabytes SCSI-2 $649
1.05 Gigabytes SCSI-2 $2199
"Quantum drives give you the highest
GVP A530 Turbo Upgrade
for all A500 GVP owners
\
Trade in vour existing GVP controller with HI) and we r
& will move the HD into a 40Mhz 68030 A530 Turbo,
I Example: Trade in a GVP I impact 500 with 52Mb
| Quantum and 2Mb,- recieve an A530 with jour
_ 52Mb Quantum 2Mb 32-bit RAM for $599
Call for a quote on your configuration
Hints & Tips
It may seem strange but Commodore have
never shipped the A 1200 with hard drive
capacities other than 40Mb. Since the release of
the A 1 200, we have been experimenting with a
number of different hard drive configurations
and brands. Basically there are two options -
add a second hard drive (yes there is room!), or
trade in your 40Mb on a larger drive.
Adding a second 40Mb drive is a cheap way to
double your capacity. Alternatively you can
replace your drive with a 120Mb Conner drive,
which (according to Sysinfo) has a transfer rate
almost 3 times that of the standard Seagate
40Mb (around 1.1 Mb/sec)! Drives are
available up to 210 Mb, so it is possible to fit up
to 420Mb inside the 1200! We can fit the drive
of your choice, or do it yourself. However, be
warned - your warranty will be void (if carried
out by unauthorised persons) and other brands
of hard drive don't work, in general! <Mc¥
-WMMjff
CD ROM Drives
and CD ROM Systems
NEC CD ROM Drives. SCSI interface supports
MAC, PC & Amiga. Ensures superior performance,
reliability and expandability.
CDR-83 Internal Unit $599
CDR -25 External Portable, Kodak
Photo CD Compatible $499
CDR-84 Internal Mullispin. Multisession, Kodak
Photo compatible 256k cache SCSI-2 $849
CDR-74 as for CDR-84 but external $949
Xetcc Driver for Amiga, supports all CD formats,
incl. CDTV emul. Photo CD conversion to IFF Add $99
Systems
Complete Amiga 1200 and 4000
Systems are available in a wide variety
of configurations.
Come in and talk about what you need.
Our advice and help is free.
Because we are also a fully Authorised
Commodore Dealer, we can offer you no
nonsense pricing and quality service.
sCall for the price you want!
02 524 9846
AMIGASoftware
ScalaMM211AGA $399
Final Copy II $159
Cinemorph $149
Scala500 S149
Pro Page 4 $175
Pro Draw 3 $199
Pagestream 2.2 Blowout! $159
Pro Calc $229
Wordworth 2 $269
Imagine2&3 CALL
TV Paint Pro Retina §699
Vista Pro V3 SPECIAL $99
Bars and Pipes (New Version) $499
Image FX $469
Real 3D $699
DPaintAGA $229
ROM
ties
Fred Fish Collection
$75
Fred Fish On ■ Line edition
$75
17-Bit Collection
CDPDVoll
$99
$69
Or-
CDPDVolll
$69
O
Fractal Universe
$69
High Res Graphics cards.
Retina 24 bit Colour Card +
from $S4<
V-LAB Framegrabber
Retina - the AGA emulator for non-AGA machines! TV paint 2.0
now available For Retina. The Demo must be seen to be believed.
New VLab Y/C and External Vlab for A 1200 available.
These boards can now grab at an effective rate of 30 frames/ sec.
VLab is a 24-bit framegrabber designed to compliment the Retina
or Harlequin boards. Both cards have full AdPro and lmagemaster
drivers, as well as extensive developer libraries and docs.
Phone or call in for a Demonstration.
TRADE-IN
We happily trade-in arty Amiga equipment
CALL US TODAY
EX-DEMO Specials
8MB card exp to 8Mb fully populated Only $399 ^
Amiga A2000 ex-demo bargains from $499
Amiga 500 $299
GVP Impact 500 scries II From $599
A590 20Mb IID + 2Mb RAM $499
IBM Emulators Call
68020 & 68030 Accelerators Call
All with warranty. Call for availability
A1230 40Mhz 68030 for A1200 From
Impact 500 with 80Mb Quantum Special
G-Force 25 Mhz with 68882 1Mb RAM
G-Force 40MHz with 68882 4Mb RA M
G-Force 68040 for A2000 33 MHz
Impact 2000 with 120Mb Quantum $699
Impact 2000 with 170Mb Quantum $849
Digital Sound Studio - Stereo Digitiser $169
Maestro 14,400 bps Fax/Data/Modem
After a survey of all available Fax/data 14.4 modems, -
came out in front. These modems come
packaged with GPFax fax software at
an incredible $549.
I
Come in and see Retina running a full
1280X1024 Workbench on a 20'
Monitor, or a SCSI CD ROM displaying
Kodak Photo CD and more . . .
NEC 5D 20" monitors - Perfect for Retina
display Workbench 1280X1024 (as seen at W0C)
Requires Flicker Fixer, A3000, Retina or run your
machine in HiRes non interlace. All NEC monitors
available at best prices.
CALL for details.
At Sigmacom You will receive the best
service and most courteous advice on al
new and used Amiga products.
111A1200 HD
Upgrade
Swap your 40Mb 1 lard Drive or Add an extra drive to your
Amiga 1200.
Price to Swap Price to Add as Second Drive
1084S
Monitor
$299
I J* J* v> r
Size
40Mb NA
80Mb $349
120 Mb $449
$249
$499
$599
Visit our showroom at
Suite 17, 20 - 24 Gibbs Street, Miranda -
right behind Miranda Station.
Sigmacom
p M 02)524 9846
■Mobile: (018) 25 7471
• Facsimile: (02) 540 4554
Phone Orders Welcome
DISASTER RECOVERY
The Rdninistrator - Release v1.B2
m\
mm
Disk Utilities -for the Aniga
Copyright % !9?3
Moonlighter Software Developnent, Inc.
fill Rights Reserved
Owner Daniel Rutter (681427)
FEWER
"i
m
AMALi'ST
-J
911 " r \
RECOVERY
■)
GP.
i
-J
UBTEST
■i! — !
I 1.- |
J | AHTBEPTIC
1:
1
A
z:
3:
4:
Jfcevkes SCSI Units
luit
J
Ami-Back Toots' main screen gives easy access to all functions
dons will give you your data back per-
fectly every time. Again, QBTD does it
better, thanks to the ability to go back
and change your mind, but aside from
that there's nothing between them.
File undeletion and recovery fixes
one way your hard drive can stuff up;
the other way is when the file system
has, as our august editor is prone lo say,
a banana and refuses to allow disk
writes, or reads, or both. Unvalidated
drives aren't nearly as much of a prob-
lem with WB2 and higher as they used
to be - one of WB2's major selling points
is its ability to automatically revalidate
drives - but more stubborn problems
need sterner measures. Both programs
will fix this; once again QBT is a tad
slower. In this department there doesn't
seem much to pick between them; both
allow automatic or user selected repairs,
both produce a log of actions.
Ancillary features
Both programs come with ancillary-
features; all but one of QBTD's are sepa-
rate programs, ABT's are built in. ABT
comes with Lab Test, which builds a
database of CRC files for your disk. A
CRC is a number figured out from a
file's contents, which is unique to each
file and won't be the same if the file is
changed. So if you've got a CRC data-
base for a given disk, you can tell which
files have been changed - a prime indi-
cator of virus activity, for a start.
ABT's last feature is the Antiseptic,
a simple program to overwrite hard and
floppy disks with blank space, so no-
body can undelete that file that proved
you shot JFK. It'll blank whole disks or
just the empty space on the disk, and is
definitely one for the paranoid and oth-
erwise shifty-eyed - hut I suppose it's
nice to know it's there.
QBTD comes with a disk eraser, too,
another one which just erases files. It
has a disk editor built in, which is really
only for the serious experts but does let
you muck about with things on the disk
at the lowest level there is. The external
Encryptor program lets you use a pass-
word of your own devising to make a
file illegible and reconstruct it later -
another one for people with Don Luigi's
mailing list on their machines. The Key-
stroke Finder lets you hunt the exact
key combination needed for that out-
landish ASCII character without play-
ing the keyboard like a piano, and the
Locator is a pretty good file finding
program, though I've seen faster.
If that wasn't enough, QBTD also
comes with a disk copying program and
also Brain Cloud, which renders a floppy
disk illegible to AmigaDOS. It's very
easy to get around the clouding, but it'd
stymie an amateur.
The last QBTD bonus program is
S Ystcm Mover, which makes it easy to
move some or all system files from one
device to another without painful CLI
manipulation.
Overall, and taking into account the
bonuses, QBTD at $149 is a better deal
than ABT by itself for $80 or so. On the
other hand, you can get ABT with the
Ami-Back backup program for about
$130, at which price the pair is cer-
tainly better value than QBT. There re-
ally isn't enough between them to draw
a clear distinction. QBTD is available
from Amadeus Computers (02) 652
2712. Ami- Back and Tools are availa-
ble from Tupsoft (02) 482 7040. Q
Ami-Back Tools ready to optimise a disk
(flfii-Back Tools) General Practitioner
Device
Qpt inize
.: :; ^.^«._
mm
Exit
Status
Ftles!
Fragnenied:
Percent !
File
Directory
Free Space
•J
-.On.''
L
ACAR 28
All October, on all Amiga
software SAVE...
Over 1 7,000 3 feet of computer
software, hardware and add ons!
Open 7 Days
1 Railway St, Chats wood. Tel 415 3355 Fax 415 3383
(Next to Chatswood station. Mail orders welcome.)
PERSONAL PAINT
Personal
Paint
So you've got yourself a
shiny new A 1200 and the
next item on the must
have list is a paint
program. At $249 some
would argue Deluxe Paint
AGA is a little expensive,
especially if you're not
after the fancy animation
capabilities. Well, there's
now an affordable
alternative.
Personal Paint is very similar to
Deluxe Paint, without the animation fea-
tures. However, in many areas, there
are some worthwhile improvements.
Best of all. Personal Pain! supports
AGA (except HAM modes), all for
around $100. Apart from the slightly
quirky manual, it's a great package
worth checking out.
Up and running
Installation of the two disks is di-
rected by a simple script, which offers
you the choice of installing each part of
A Workbench for the graphically minded
.-.jTiig.5 Workbendi 3,855,609 graphics mem 15,206,136 other mem
Hd |
rj | PP»itt_2 91 % foil, 78K free, 759K in use | E] I ■& I
, D I Pictures
Ji I HiResGtfs
I E3 1 Qll
Wort
Hd
m
System 3.Q
FFaint 1
L J
Fac.cpif
Q | LoR is Gifs
Ashon.gif
Orchid gif
lEJIei ly- .>'s ■
l£3| ta
JS.
sik
, ■■. .,
C8own.gif
Parrot.gif
Fashion .grt
HotAir.gif
-i <i>iji
I PPaiMZKcmres/LoRes Oils? | J^ \ p^tJjWsrfLoRes Gifs/Panst ; | ffl 1 1&
■
. '. D I PPiJn|E
"CI
1
by Andrew Farrell
the package. Handy if you're tight on
disk space, or want to add parts later on.
However, it's a shame they didn't use
the Commodore installer which is a
more elegant method by any measure.
Personal Paint will run on a basic
Amiga, however extra Chip RAM is
recommended especially if you want to
work in high-resolutions with more col-
ours. The manual made some mention
of audio feed-back. At first I thought
this might be some helpful spoken con-
firmation of tool selections, along the
lines of Term 3.3. Alas, Personal Paint's
audio feedback would rank equally with
the standard sound from an IBM PC -
we're talking pips, squeaks and the odd
beep. Someone ought to remind them
the program is running on an Amiga.
Interface
A conversation between the design-
ers of this program may have gone like
this: "Hey, let's move the tool bar to the
ACAR 30
I
PERSONAL PAINT
left hand side of the screen! They'll nev-
er pick that it looks like Deluxe Paint.' 1
Thankfully it was then followed by: "...
and maybe we can add some really great
functions."
Yes folks, the interface is so much
like Deluxe Paint, if you already know
Deluxe Paint you almost know Personal
Paint. Even the hot keys are the same
for most functions and the right button
activates similar option windows from
most of the paint tools. But there's some
neat additions worth mentioning too.
Gradient fills
Getting smooth colour transitions is
usually tricky without a good range to
choose from. In 256 colour mode, it's
not a drama. In 16 colours, Personal
Paint has some impressive dithering
methods which can be used to create
gradient fills, or improve the look of
imported images. Dithering two colours
creates the illusion of in between shades.
This is achieved by special patterns
which place pixels of a similar colours
side by side to trick the eye into seeing
something in between. The pattern used
can dramatically affect the look of the
image. Persona! Paint performs well in
tli is department.
Image processing
Personal Paint starts giving Deluxe
Paint a serious run for its money in this
department. Although lacking some of
the brush paint modes, Personal Paint
offers a smart collection of image
processes, with the added bonus of being
able to create new or edit existing effects.
However, the old "slower than a wet
week of Sundays" comes to mind shortly
followed by my current favourite,
"worse than wading through a field of
molasses in mid- winter" when describ-
ing the speed of Persona! Paint's image
processing.
Powerful it may be, but fast the im-
age processing ain't. Fortunately, you
can very selectively apply each effect
using either a freehand or square selec-
tion tool. An example of what's possi-
ble is included elsewhere on this page.
ACAR 31
PERSONAL PAINT
An excellent fill requester, with a good
gradient control
The palette requester is clean and simple, but lacking some of
Deluxe Paint's power features
File formats
Personal Paint is no fuss-pot when it
comes to loading foreign file formats, ft
can load and save PCX~ GIF, IFF-ILBM
and save to C. Pretty nifty, especially if
you're dealing with PC heads, or
sourcing images from a PC CD-ROM.
The file requester is adequate. There's
also a useful grab screen facility, useful
for people like ... us!
Text
Creating video titles is a popular use
for paint programs. Unfortunately, with-
out animation there's no opportunity to
move your fancy looking titles. How-
ever, Personal Paint's ability to enhance
text is up there with the best. Adding an
outline, drop shadow, 3D look and vari-
ous other enhancements is simple thanks
to a number of handy brush effects. The
manual covers this application well.
Colour fonts are supported, as are
Workbench 2.0*s outline fonts - com-
plete with full implementation of the
aspect ratio environment variable -
which is high time.
Brush selection
Once again, there's a Deluxe Paint
look-alike winner at the top of the tool
bar from which you choose your brush.
An added feature is a hidden gadget
labelled "1". Click here and you can
select from nine possible brushes in
memory. This makes working with mul-
tiple brushes a snack. Resizing, rotating
I he brush and moving the brush handle
is also possible.
Conclusion
Overall, Personal Paint is a solid
work horse, which is excellent value for
money. There's lots of surprises, and
despite a couple of let downs, Personal
Paint has a great future as the most
affordable entry level paint program on
the Amiga. The added bonus is, the pro-
gram has enough power to keep most
artists busy for a long time without feel-
ing the feature pinch.
Thanks to Amadeus Computers (02)
652 2712 for our review copy. RRP
$109. □
An impressive range of effects are possible using the Image Processing operator
ACAR 32
In tern a tl on al
612 652 2712
FREE DELIVERY in Australia
EREE CALL
ummuBiB
Sydney Callers
Phone (02) 652 2712
Fax (02)652 1515
34 Tecoma Drive, Glenorie 2 157
I
Personal Pail]($ j 09
^neo, Animator 4 $109
v 'staPn,3$l09
pisiantSuns4.2$99
Imagine 3 j _ c .
ReaJ3D 2 .0$799 ° rdefa,Js
ReaJ 3D Classic $349
<ake2$] 2 5
Retina Boards Tvd- ,-.
J7*wnrni£*y' °P^ Vision
^Pam-Addo^;!^ ""^
Cy^n Esse „ c ^^ neeg
^on a i F S 2 F 9 ° nfSW9
£ e " Pal 1.5 $89
lroePnni24$9i>
VLaf, Internal ,Z ( ™ gas $ "9
RocGe„P lus$399
| 2^ e ', T,, '- p ™ Genlock $H99
JWU H ome Titier: S, 5 9
Scanners
. Supplied wfch Sf^ SCa " ners *«9
^be.sH )a „d™ (M '- Gra P f ')$749.
^^foro„yf^ e r v °" !1 f"'ar ke ,. Wny
A 'fe Data colour S * SCa,e sca nner?
Amadeus Computers
n lUXeP ^Ac^ $249 J
AMIGA SYSTEMS
We are an authorised Amiga dealer and
ean supply you with a system to match
your needs. Need a bigger hard drive or
more memory? No problems. Call for a
price on a solution tailored for your needs.
A 1200/A4000 030/040-
Commodore Monitors.
I
I
/
Hard Drives
internally or n*fe ; nd dnve
larger d y nVe lnyoUr4 0Mb dnveon
Seagate S9 9 dr SS u *"g ki t 8 0Mb
'Mb$H9 $59A5 °° 2 Mb $229^600
Addl, 24 or siu^ ' C0 -P ro 5349
^M, n i ^MCal. f o rcUrrcm
-^rator.dcck'd d, ° 1Ceof
6803033MH,IiLff Sro ' ,$699
^0 5oSMMn Vmbn$749
B '"WeP,. og r^ MUvere 'o"$899
B 'WeR eaderP '
Sound/Music B ' bIe SchoJ ar $220
Megamix Master ,,;!!o
brochure. * W ^S 3 - Call for a
Databases
^"tact2.l OU tnow$79
SBasePro4vjJS299
S Bas e Personal 4 vl.3$, 79
Utilities
"'sk Master U $49
AmiBack2.0S 79 C xe$,4 Y Call for
CA?pr' Cak2 -°^49
f^^w Programs
™wer packed 3D CAD™*,
Professional user. ^S™™ for the
X-CAD 2000 $349 y rArk „
J*"*- Softwlf CAD300 °* 699
' ^ymoreoil^S^fflW
titles TeacT ^ avai '^Je for
catalogs t1Chersca " ^ school
Maestro Modems
I 2400/9600^9 ?2n° Pax/Daf «
GPFax. J0$389 '' 44 «VI4400 $599 with
■ Rombo Products
' he real time Vidi A ■
H ^e out now! Cnll ^"T C ? Jour di g""ers
"d features. We a £ '" *?"» «■ Prices
distributor of S autflo ™ed
' includino t | le m ' R ° mbo Products,
s ^l>'erTak e 2 egam " Master sound
Software Searches
**? Coll us f£*^ sq fr
s&»ck and m f ore /£f* ™ f ligation
get it. lfltSav <»lable. Wea!n
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DBALE ^ ENQUIRIES WELCOME Vc«H^N
^^^^^^^^_ -— ■( fote.v/ 46V1 :
games
PUBLIC DOMAIN and SHAREWARE
HOTPD
Daniel Rutter makes exciting discoveries
620 megabytes of stuff. Mounds of
it. Utilities, games, text, music, pictures.
Right there in front of me. I was look-
ing at the AmiNet CD-ROM, and I was
impressed. Sure, it's a pretty sad thing
to get excited over, but I admit I did.
CD-ROM storage lets you get the
thick end of a gigabyte of data into your
computer for fifty bucks a disc, and the
players are getting cheaper - all the big
IBM and Mac software houses are gel-
ting into CD-ROM in such a big way
that a whole heap of applications aren't
even going to be released on floppy.
One major Amiga luminary is also giv-
ing the idea consideration - see the end
of this column.
The AmiNet CD-ROM is like hav-
ing a bulletin board on your desktop -
only you can grab the files at speeds
approaching hard disk, instead of slower
than floppy.
Its contents are mainly archived, and
include the entire ab20.larc.nasa.gov
amiga archive, which was a huge re-
pository of Amiga stuff before it shut
down in April 1992 and includes whole
font collections and mounds of other
groovy stuff.
The AmiNet disc also contains a
whole heap of more recent software get-
ting well into 1993; a load of brilliant
and not so brilliant sound samples,
plenty of really good MODs and a lot of
lousy ones; mounds of pictures, many
of them JPEG 24 bit images; all those
weird UNIX ported utilities that you
can never find when (or if) you need
them; the list goes on.
The AmiNet disc is pretty badly com-
piled, with more than a few duplica-
tions and not the friendliest documenta-
tion, but if you can use a BBS then you
can find your way around it - and it's
certainly far, far simpler than scouting
around BBSs and PD libraries.
++ MagicWB
The other Pleasant Discovery over
the last month has been the MagicWB
suite. There are lots of nifty icon collec-
tions out there - the ones on Fish 546 by
Kenneth Jennings are still quite good -
but until now nobody's made a collec-
tion of icons for every standard Work-
bench program that installs itself and
doesn't stomp the rest of your system
when it does. Add to that a load of nice
background colours, and you've got
MagicWB.
The MagicWB package is a $US20
_ — . — „ — __.. ..„____.
Kity' of: program iridi-
ber of +s before name.
I Scale:
+ Embarrassingly simple
++ If you've read the Amiga
j manual you're right
' +++ If you've read and COM-
; PLETELY UNDERSTOOD the
manual:!
Only if you can Identify!
boards at a hundred paces
rograms included on compan-
ion disks indicated with HOT be-
fore name-
shareware collection created by Martin
Huttenloher, and it uses an eight colour
screen instead of the grindingly slow 16
colour needed for many funky icons.
The icons are dithered to look as if
they've got more colours than they re-
ally have, and many are dual image -
they have a second image when clicked.
MagicWB even has a nice icon for un-
readable disks, by using an undocu-
mented system feature!
That's the good news. The bad news
is that MagicWB needs a flicker free
machine - so either an older machine
with a flicker fixer or an AGA mode).
Magic WB
:JKwS i
flif
uzd*
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ACAR 34
PUBLIC DOMAIN and SHAREWARE
.
with of course a monitor capable of
displaying flicker free modes. It also
requires at least WB2. And it's another
of these packages which don't let you
make money from their distribution, so
you'll never find it in a for-profit PD
library. Check out the user groups and
bulletin boards -it's really worth it!
HOT ++ BootX Patch
Last month I mentioned that pending
the arrival of the first version of the
excellent BootX virus killer by its new
authors in Safe Hex International, there's
been a patch version released by the
original author to remove those annoy-
ing "yrmr version is too old" messages.
It's on the companion disks for this col-
umn, and as before you need WB2 or
higher to run it.
HOT +++ F***Check & NoF***
A couple of months ago I mentioned
this trojan horse program, which I swear
the authors named specifically to make
it hard to talk about it. It hides in a
program called ModemChecker, 15516
bytes long, which reports everything to
be fine with your modem even if you
don't have one plugged in. While it chats
with you about your nonexistent com-
munications hardware, it quietly modi-
fies the LoadWB command so that at
some point in later life your computer
will format one of its disk devices at
random, writing the predictable four let-
ter word all over it.
There are now two programs to check
for the F*** virus, and they're both on
the companion disk. If you're running a
version of WB before 2 you 're safe any-
way, but if you're not it doesn't hurt to
have one of these looking out for you.
HOT ++ Virus Checker 6.29
Pending the update to BootX, John
Veldthuis' Virus Checker is the best all
round virus checking package around,
and certainly simpler to use than BootX
looks like ever being. The latest version
adds a couple more viruses, as usual,
but also support for Safe Hex Interna-
tional's bootblock library, giving a
standard for virus updates. Virus
Checker is simple, reliable and power-
ful, and should always be running on
any system that sees foreign disks fairly
often - like mine, for example.
HOT ++ DiskSalv2
DiskSalv is one of the ancients of the
Amiga world, going back to the days
when Commodore seriously thought
DiskDoctor was a good idea. DiskSalv
allowed you to grab data from a dam-
aged disk to another, clean one, rather
than trying to write it back to the origi-
nal disk. It was a huge success, and now
it's been kicked into the 90s by this new
version.
For a meagre $US10 shareware fee,
DiskSalv 2 offers reliable, data recovery
at a dang good price if I do say so
myself. Deleted and damaged files can
be recovered to and from just about any
device - as long as you've got WB2 or
higher. You can still use DiskSalv from
the command line if you like, but there's
now a friendly gadget interface too for
those who prefer quadruple amputation
to CLI use. Definitely one to own.
1 HOT + Cow Wars
Light relief time. This game is Re-
ally Stupid, even by my standards. You
play two little - well, catapults, I guess -
on either side of a mountain, lobbing
cows at each other. There are three
weights of cow and a giant penguin that
grabs your cows if you're not careful.
Hit the other guy with one of each type
of cow and you win. Unlike many Ar-
tillery type games, Cow Wars is in real
time - you don't take turns to lob. It's
pretty fatuous, but good for a giggle.
++++ Core Wars
Similar name, far greater brain in-
volvement. I found this on the AmiNet
CD ROM mentioned above, and redcode
aficionadoes will probably buy the disk
just for it. In Core Wars, people with
very little to occupy their days write
programs which duel for control of a
simulated computer, and it has wasted
more expensive computer time than Life,
another computerised diversion for the
pocket protector set.
Core Wars is an oddity, but if you
want it you now know where to get it.
I'd probably get hate mail if I put it on
the companion disks, even if it'd fil.
HOT + Ameko
More frivolity. Ameko is an Amiga
port of the Windows toy Neko, and it
opens a window containing a small kit-
ten, which chases the mouse pointer. If
you move the pointer out of the win-
dow, the kitten scratches hopefully at
the window edge, and if you leave the
pointer in one place the kitten goes to
sleep. Heck, it's more imaginative than
those programs that make a pair of eyes
track the pointer. Ameko requires WB2,
and comes with versions for people with
and without flicker free displays.
HOT++Mostra2
Sebastiano Vigna has produced some
very good stuff over the years, and
Computer Adventure Games - Hints and Tips
(The Second Adventurers Realm Hint Book)
Detailed clues to over 25 top notch adventure and role play games
Post or Fax your order to: Saturday Magazine Pty Ltd, 21 Dariey Rd,
Handwick NSW 2031. Phone (02) 398 51 11 Fax (02) 398 5322
$ 1 each including postage
I enclose a cheque or money orderfor or
My Bankcard, Visa card, Mastercard
Name (print)
Signature
Address
ACAR 35
PUBLIC DOMAIN and SHAREWARE
Mostra is one of his best. It's a picture
displayer, with all the bits you need and
none of the pointless bells and whistles
with which some programmers bulk up
their offerings ("Swiss Army Dis-
played").
Mostra 2 is WB2+ only, and has been
completely rewritten for complete AGA
compatibility. A couple of bugs have
been fixed, like the annoying habit older
versions had of resetting the left margin
when you displayed odd width pictures.
There's a nice file requester so you
don't have to run it from the command
line, and it retains its funkiest feature -
real-time decrunching of big pictures.
This lets you display pictures you don't
really have enough chip RAM to see all
of at once, by only keeping one screenful
in chip RAM at any given time and
quickly decrunching the other bits when
you scroll to them. Mostra 2 is share-
ware and costs $US20 to register.
HOT ++ SuperDuper 3
Another program from Sebastiano
Vigna, and another large improvement.
SuperDuper is a fast, flexible and free
disk copier and formatter, which
multitasks very well so you don't have
to paralyse your machine while copy-
ing floppies. The current version has,
again, been completely rewritten, and
sports a more streamlined interface with
all the giblets in a secondary window to
cut down clutter,
SuperDuper still does copies to mul-
tiple devices, auto start (stick in the disks
and off it goes) and copies from RAM
buffers, but has now added support for
external XPK compression libraries to
cut RAM buffer size and, a major im-
provement from my point of view, sup-
port for weird disk devices.
You see, I compile the companion
disks for this column, among other
things, with FMSDisk, a program which
makes fake floppies on my hard drive
to allow me to build the disks much
faster. Unfortunately, up until now noth-
ing but the Commodore DiskCopy pro-
gram would copy these fake disks onto
real floppies. The same problem arose
if I tried copying from a recoverable
RAM drive. SuperDuper will now copy
any devices of the same size onto each
other, to which I say huzzah.
So I'm easily pleased. So sue me.
SuperDuper also supports high density
floppies, though on my lousy machine 1
couldn't verify this. I'll trust the manual
on this one.
Sorry there aren't more programs on
the companion disks this time, but
Sebastiano Vigna specified that all files
had to be distributed for the SuperDuper
and Mostra packages, and since he in-
cluded the docs for each in three differ-
ent formats, two of which are quite it-
legible for 95% of users, the size blew
out a bit. C'est la vie.
The companion disks for this col-
umn are called HotPDlla and b, and
are available for $9.50 the pair from
Prime Artifax,
Fish update
Next month we'll be back into the
Fish disks again, which continue to mul-
tiply like dust bunnies under the couch.
Fred has, in fact, floated the idea of
releasing Fish on CD-ROM. As he says:
"The current cost of a floppy based
subscription averages $40/month. De-
pending upon quantity, the cost to sub-
scribers for a CD-ROM distribution on
a monthly basis could be $20-$30, with
vastly increased limits on the amount of
new material that could be distributed.
With CD-ROM distributions I could eas-
ily include material that I now have to
reject because of size considerations.
'The material could be organized in
a more natural manner, along subject
lines, like separate directories for demos,
games, utilities, animations, etc. There
would also be no need to pack any of
the material, it could be distributed
"ready to run", regardless of size (as-
suming no 300Mb animations of
course).
"The way I envision a CD-ROM dis-
tribution channel working is that each
monthly CD-ROM release would con-
tain some fraction of older material that
has appeared on a previous monthly CD-
ROM, along with the current month's
new material. As space is needed for
new material, the older material would
be deleted, on a first in - first out basis.
"Thus there would be a significant
overlap in the contents of each succes-
sive disk, with the amount of overlap
depending upon the quantity of new ma-
terial appearing on each CD-ROM. Sub-
scribers could elect to receive a new
CD-ROM every month, every two
months, every three months - according
to their needs, and probably not miss
any material as long as the interval
doesn't extend past 5-6 months, assum-
ing up to 1 00Mb of new material every
month."
Fred then gives a questionnaire for
user feedback about the CD-ROM, and
the document is included in full on the
companion disks. CD-ROM is certainly
the way of the future - now we just have
to figure out something to do with the
redundant CDs. You can't make fruil
bowls out of 'em.
Till next month!
SuperDuper3
p | SuperDuper 3 o by Sebastiano Vigna
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f^l
ACAR 36
Computer
•Spot*
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BLITZ BASIC
Blitz
'em
by Roy Hurley
Adding commands
to Blitz Basic
How many of you bought Blitz II
at the World of Commodore
Show in Sydney early in July?
This release by the New Zealand based
Acid has put Blitz Basic up there with
the big boys, Amos and CanDo.
To its credit. Acid have so far sup-
ported Blitz well with speedy upgrades
and a bi-monthly magazine. With an
integrated editor and compiler to make
life just that little bit easier, Blitz is a
great language. Have you ever been frus-
trated by a missing command in your
Basic? Ever wanted to add an extra com-
mand to do something not covered in
the command set? Blitz's system
friendly environment makes it easy.
The secret is to write Functions or
Statements to do the work for you. These
Functions can contain independent vari-
ables so that they won't interfere with
the rest of your programs, and can be
INCLUDED at the start of your pro-
gram so they won't take up space in
your program listing.
I have created a subdirectory in which
all my home-made commands live, and
use the 1NCDIR command tn point the
Blitz compiler in there, like this:
INCDIR "DhO:Blitz/includesr
INCLUDE EXISTS
Here are some of my extra com-
mands, dealing with Dos and files. A
good book on machine language or the
System Programmer's Guide contains
some of the information you need to
access the internals of the operating sys-
tem.
Command: EXISTS {filenames}
Result: Returns -1 if file could be found, if itcould
not
Example: If EXISTS ("Ram: Picture .iff") then NPrint
"Picture in Rami"
Function EXISTS (f$)
key.[=Lock_|&f$,-2)
If key>0
UnLock_ key
Function Return -1
Else
Function Return
End If
End Function
Description:
EXISTS {f$} calls the Dos function
Lock (filename, mode) to try and put a
lock on the file. This function returns a
zero if it could not lock onto the fde,
otherwise it returns an AmigaDos lock,
which means the file exists.
It's important to call the Dos func-
tion UnLock(Iock) to free the file so
that other programs or subroutines can
use the file after we have finished with
it.
Command: FSIZE (filename$)
Result: Returns the filesize of filenames or-1 if the
file was not found, -2 if another error occurred.
Example: NPrint "Size of file is ",FSIZE
("Ram:Picture.ifT)
Function.! FSIZE ff$]
mem .1= AllocWlem_(260, 1 )
If mem>0
key.l=Lock_(&fS,-2)
If key>0
Examine^ key,mem
result. l=Peek. I(mem+1 24J
UnLock, key
Else
re$ult=-1
End If
FreeMem_ mem, 260
Else
rssult=-2
End If
Function Return result
End Function
Description:
First we call the Exec Function
AllocMem(MemSize,MemType) to al-
locate a block of 260 bytes of Public
Ram. This function returns the address
of our block of memory, or in the un-
likely event that the system could not
find any spare memory, a zero.
We need this 260 byte memory block
so that we can call Lock the file and call
the Dos function
Examine(KeyJnfoBlock) to fill it up
with information on our file. This data
structure is called a file InfoBlock.
Some interesting information can be
read from the following offsets within
the InfoBlock:
Offset Ty pe Description
B siring Filename Filename$=Peek$(meni+8)
124 Length long lenglh.l=Peek.l[mem+124]
144 comment string comment$=PeekS(rnem+144)
Once Examine has been called, the
file length is read, and the function "goes
out backwards", unlocking and freeing
the memory used. Notice how the func-
tion checks for errors, and sets the vari-
able result to return either an error mes-
sage or the file length.
Command: BLOAD [filenames]
Result: Loads a file into memory, and returns the
memory address of its location. Also returns optional
shared variable FLENGTH reporting the length of
the file loaded Returns zero if an error occurred
during loading.
Example: address. I=BI_0 AD CRam:Picture.ifr)
Function BLOAD jf$}
;SHARED FLENGTH
information!
If you want this extra
AGAR 38
key,bLock_[&f$,-2)
If key>0
mem.l=A!tocMemJ260,1)
If mem>0
Examine^ key, mem
FLENGTH.I=Psek.l(mem+124)
FA0DRESSJ=AllocMem_(FLENGTH,1)
lfFADDRESS>Q
hancf.l=Open..(&f3,1005)
If hand>Q
bytes.l=Head_(hand,FADDRESS,
FLENGTH)
If by!es=FLENGTH
BLOADED_OK.I=FA0DRESS .
Efse
FrseMem. FADDR ESS, FLENGTH
End ff
Close, hand
Else
FreeMem. FADDR ESS, FLENGTH
End if
End If
FreeMem_ mem ,260
End If
UnLock_ key
End If
Function Return BLOADED_OK
End Funclion
Description;
This function loads a complete File
into memory, which can make things a
lot quicker than working on a file stored
on floppy disk. We start by locking the
file, allocating a File InfoBlock, and
calling Examine to fill it up, as described
previously.
Once we know the length of the file,
we attempt to allocate enough memory
lo hold its contents. Then we call the
Dos Ope n(file name, Mode) to open the
file before calling
Read(handle,buffer,length) which reads
the file into our memory block. Then
we close the file and exit, freeing
memory as required.
It's important to remember the ad-
dress and length of the memory block
so we can return it to the system with a
call to FreeMcm_
FADDRESS.FLENGTH after we have
finished using it.
Next month we will be looking at
calling requesters from the Reqtools li-
brary, and we will be using some more
machine language routines. If you have
any questions, problems, suggestions,
please write to me! Or, I can be con-
tacted via Powerhouse BBS (042) 616
380 GT Net 302/017. Q
NEW FreePost ~ No stamp required
when sending orders! Free Number for
Contributors and Orders; 008 227418
What's available frosm Megadose?
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3
ANDY'S ATTIC
«
ot •■ftn^
Andy's Aliic*
Inside Your Workbench Tools Drawer
and Spot Mail Reader
With winter upon us, threatening
to chill finger tips to the point
where they feel as though
they're about to snap, you have excel-
lent reason to retreat to the nearest fire-
place and relax. Make a nice warm
cuppa of your favourite brew, sit back
and take a few minutes break to enjoy
this month's Andy's Attic column.
In this month's column you'll find a
note of appreciation to a generous
reader, with a look at some of the good-
ies from the TOOLS drawer with our
Workbench 2 upgrade.
Modern users that are into mail net-
working or those looking to get into it
should find the short review of SPOT in
this issue to be quite exciting. On with
the show.
With many thanks
Regular readers of Andy's Attic will
recall my short sob story a few issues
back about my A590 hard drive which
bit the dust after more than two years of
faithful service.
As a result of those few paragraphs,
Mr Alan Cowan, a retired Queensland
reader of Andy's Attic, decided he
would come to the rescue. Alan logged
onto my BBS and left a note saying that
he had replaced the 20meg HD in his
own A590 with a 105meg SCSI drive
and generously donated his removed
2(Jmeg drive to Andy's Attic in appre-
ciation of the benefits he'd received from
reading the column.
I'd like to give a public thanks to
Alan for his incredible generosity and
also to those that wrote in and offered
help in one way or another by suggest-
ing places I might be able to get my
drive repaired at a cheaper price than at
regular ComCare agents.
It gives this humble writer a warm
feeling inside to know the effort I put
into these columns is appreciated to that
extent and certainly makes it all the more
worthwhile and satisfying.
So thanks Alan! Australia Post got it
right fortunately and the hard drive ar-
rived safe and sound. The A590 is back
on its feet once again and working bril-
liantly. My hope is that you continue to
find value in what's written in these
pages in future issues.
The Tools Drawer
Amiga public domain software is
usually of such a high quality that one
can often end up forgetting what comes
with the Amiga operating system. I re-
cently went scrounging around through
PD lists, looking for a utility which
would show me the ALT-Key combi-
nation I needed to create the small sym-
bols like the (C) one sees in various doc
files. In the middle of my search I stum-
bled across KeyShow in the Tools di-
rectory of my WorkBench disk.
Keys how
A simple utility which will display
all keys on whichever keymap you have
loaded on the Amiga at time of starting.
By pressing SHIFT, CTRL, AMIGA or
ALT keys, KeyShow will display the
results. Great for finding out which keys
to press for those weird little symbols
you see occasionally or to help get used
to a foreign keymap when writing in
another language. Start it from WB or a
Shell. You'll find KeyShow in the tools
drawer on your Extras disk if still using
a floppy only system. In there, you'll
also find:
Showconfig
A quick and easy way to view your
system hardware configuration,
Showconfig reports on CHIP types, CPU
version, Hard drive controllers and
memory expansion boards. It also con-
firms which Kickstart and disk versions
of the operating system you're currently
using. Handy when trouble shooting.
ME macs
Looking for a powerful yet reason-
ably user friendly text editor to do your
programming in? Look no further.
MicroEmacs (MEmacs for short) won't
impress you if you are looking for bells
and whistles, but if what you want is a
no nonsense and fast text editing ma-
chine, MEmacs may well fit the bill.
Originally taken from the public do-
main, MEmacs has been developed into
a powerful text workhorse which will
also allow you to input those funny lit-
tle characters we were speaking of be-
fore which some editors and certainly
most word processors will not allow.
Fire up MEmacs and press ALT-E in
it to see what I mean. You should end
AGAR 42
ANDY'S ATTIC
up with a tiny C in a box on screen. Use
the KeyShow utility to see what other
symbols are available to you with the
keymap which you are using.
To get the full benefit out of MEniaes,
one really needs to be using it fairly
extensively. While all of its options and
commands are available to you from
the pull down menus, by using the key-
board equivalents of those commands,
much time can be saved. We'll look at
using MEmacs more extensively in a
future issue.
HDbackup
WorkBench 2.0 comes with its very
own HDbackup software and rightly so.
Enough emphasis cannot be put on how
important it is to back up important data
on a hard or floppy disk. Using
HDbackup on floppy disks is overkill
as it's just as easy and quicker to simply
mirror the important disk with
DiskCopy. It can be used for that pur-
pose nevertheless.
While considerably slower and lack-
ing many of the bells and whistles asso-
ciated with other commercially avail-
able hard disk backup software,
HDbackup still does an impressive and
com pe lent job of backing up your im-
portant files. It also allows you to com-
press your files as you're backing up if
you want to save some space.
You can also do partial and incre-
mental backups. Providing you opted to
make a log of your backups, HDbackup
will also allow you to restore single
files if you accidentally deleted just a
single important file from your system.
As mentioned earlier, it may not be
the bees-knees of hard disk backup soft-
ware available for the Amiga, but it
certainly beats the pants off copying
files one by one from hard disk to floppy
in an effort to safeguard their loss. Great
to tide you over till you can afford the
purchase of something better and faster.
SPOT - new pointing
software
When I pointed (no pun intended) at
Foozle by Peer Hasselmeyeras as an
ideal choice for BBS network pointing
software late last year, at the time, it
was the easiest of the bunch for the
beginner to get up and running. That
may have been true then, but not now.
Hot off the press comes SPOT by
Nico Francois. SPOT just hit the Amiga
communications arena wilh many of the
same powerful features as Foozle, yet
simpler to set up. I think it's a definite
winner. Available to WB2.0 or higher
users only, some of the features that
SPOT boasts include:
• Supports WB3.0 features (new
look menus, memory pools).
• Style Guide compliant.
• Completely font-sensitive, user
may select which fonts to use.
• All settings can be easily changed
from within Spot.
• Fast importing/exporting.
• Automatically creates new areas
for you, no tedious work.
• Special fast message base format
with only a few files per area.
• Optional - fully transparent - mes-
sage base crunching.
• Message list with powerful func-
tions (eg search body text).
• Message thread linking based on
subject and MSGID kludge.
• Excellent support for multiple char-
acter sets (LATIN- 1 , IBM).
• Built-in, fully asynchronous Fido
file request capabilities.
• Multi-bossing and multi-domain
capable.
• Userlist editor. Every domain has
its own userlist.
• AREXX port ... and more!
Getting started as a point on a world
wide network such as Fidonet can be
extremely confusing and daunting to
someone just starling out, so the easier
the software is to get up and running,
the better. SPOT has to my mind
achieved this without sacrificing power
or usability at all and is a credit to its
author. I had it set up here on the HD,
ready to accept its first mail bundle in
less than 15 minutes. What makes it so
easy is that if you forget to specify a
field or path. SPOT will prompt and
create it for you in most cases on the
fly. If it can't do that, it will pop up a
requester offering suggestions on a so-
lution to the problem. Absolutely bril-
liant!
The negative side is that the L-Plate
point operator is still going to have to
battle through the confusing setup pro-
cedures of getting a mailer up and run-
ning. The author of SPOT has written
his software to lake full advantage of
the highly popular TRAPDOOR mailer
by Maximilian Hantsch & Martin
Laubach so that would be the one to go
for, but it's nowhere near as straightfor-
ward to setup as SPOT and has been the
cause of many a headache to the bud-
ding point operator.
Nagging feature - a requester that pops up reminding you to pay
lf:i*HX<^l!ll4J^| l H:IHn.| l1J HUMJ 1 , M lM ll Mir l ,, l ,.. JJ ,,,
rtessase Jits*,,, ! HtV - .V.J8l«Sr;UlSa:sr,v g !V-;ttr;;;«S5J!J4;i W ;, ; »- r . ; -
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If 90tt«sut«t I ike is register
please check tHe docunentatton,
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in a feu seconds!
Ok f
yi
ACAR43
ANDYS ATTIC
Spot 1.8 S 1 993 Htco Francnts - UnregiStersd evaluation strma
I.E.
•Has sages. ■ ■
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Address
Ccawieht
.8! Fid
Cfcrts auoneet
Peter Jet ion
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nane
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;o-Qr«finsttir
Using SPOT is a pleasure. The only
noticeable nagging feature is a requester
which pops up reminding you the soft-
ware has not yet been paid for. A few
mouse clicks chasing the requester
around the screen later and you're on
your way.
SPOT has a few "niceties" disabled
in the unregistered version, however is
stiil fully usable and you are given li-
cence to trial it for 30 days before regis-
tration is required.
At time of writing, SPOT is only
available from a coupie of BBS sites
around Australia but can certainly be
downloaded from Andy's Attic here in
Vic. However by the time this goes to
print, it will also be available at Prime
Artifax and Megadisc PD libraries. Get
it one way or another but do get it and
check it out, I seriously doubt you'll be
sorry.
If you want more information on
SPOT, you can send the author Netmail
from your nearest Fidonet participating
board at 2:292/603.10 or alternatively,
snail mail him by writing to: Nico
Francois, Corbidaan 1 3B-3060 Bertem,
Belgium.
SPOT is distributed under the
Shareware concept and will set you
back US$30 to become a registered user
of the product. At time of writing, there
is no known Australian registration or
support site.
As a side note, Foozle die-hards will
be pleased to hear that Peter
Contact 2.1
State of the art in personal contact managers
for the Amiga. Even more new features in 2.1!
Opus & CanDo
Tech support and upgrades for all Australian users is now through
Desktop Utilities. Look for the DTU registration with your package
when you buy. If your package came withoui our Australian
registration, you can register for $15 (Opus) or $30 (CanDo).
Include your Inovatronics serial number.
MathsMaster II
New edition of another Australian software product! Includes:
Addition, subtraction, division, multiplication l _
A mked module combining these operations
Three levels of play
Australian focus in graphics
High score table
Mathsmaster users should return original disk in stamped SAE for u/g.
X
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ACAR44
ANDY'S ATTIC
Hasselmeyeras has just released an up-
date to Foozle which is also available
for download or file request (Fidonef/
Amiganet nodelisted systems only) here
at Andy's Attic. Filename is
FZ103.LHA Though the update has
been a long time coming, Foozle users
will probably be disappointed to learn
that it's mainly just some bug fixes. In
the author's own words ...
"Although it has been quite some
lime since version 1.02 has been re-
leased, this update only includes a few
bugfixes. This is because most of the
development effort is put into a com-
pletely new editor. Furthermore, I do
not have much time left at present."
All the more reason to check out
SPOT] SPOT may be file requested from
Andy's Attic (3:633/106 @fidonet) un-
der the magic filename ofSPOT. Again,
only Fidonet and Amiganet nodelisted
systems can freq. Anyone can log on
and download it the regular way though.
Andy's Attic is and always will be a
1993 Nico Francois - Unregistered eualuati
Andrew Leniart
Chris Quonoev
Testing out SPOT!
3:633/186.18
31633/359,8
11 Jul 93 17:58:51
|flndreu Leniart
is
3:633/186.18
HP
f Chris Quonoey
[Testing Spot !
~|±| |3:633/359.8 ]
(B Noma! i/l Private ( Receipt Req
J Hold _vU Kill/Sent | fiudit Req
J trash | File Attach _y/J RefUu
Edit,,. | Cancel
free and friendly BBS system.
Concluding
That's all we have room for this
month and brings us to the end of an-
other column. Be sure to join us again
next month where we'll continue our
look at the new WB2.0, the utilities
available to enhance it further and per-
haps answer a letter or two. Till then ...
Andy's Attic BBS 03-749-4897. Q
COMPUTA MAGIC PTY LTD
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AGAR 45
DELUXE PAINT TUTORIAL
Dark Side of
the Moon
No doubt it would be a simple
matter to draw a very dark grey
filled circle on a black back-
ground and declare it as a picture of the
dark side of the moon, but that sort of
bone idle arlislry is probably what turned
Floyd pink with rage in the first place.
For our dark side we will first create a
full moon.
Let's look at constructing the moon I
mentioned last month. The mechanics
of constructing a surface anim-brush
were adequately covered in that article
and you may recall special mention be-
by Graham Bowden
ing made of the way in which the sur-
face brush pre-animation was created.
Remember that by employing the Go
Back feature and adjusting the Move
direction in the Move requester prior to
beginning the second half of the surface
brush pre-animation we were left with a
single copy of the planetary surface in
frame one.
The surface brush for the Earth,
which was 136 pixels wide (as shown
in Figure 1) was moved 136 pixels in
34 frames before the Move requester
was recalled, Go Back was clicked, the
Move direction was set to the second
move as in Figure 1 before drawing the
second half of the pre-animation.
And you may recall 1 also said that
this method of preparing the pre-ani-
mation for the surface brush made things
easier when picking up an an im brush in
certain situations. This moon is one such
situation. I'll explain.
"a spinning moon which
can itself be grabbed as an
animbrush, ready to be
adjusted into an orbiting
moon brush"
DPainr's wrap fill technique only
wraps the custom brush around the vis-
ible half of whatever shape was created,
in this case a circle. This forms a dome,
once again as shown in Figure 1 . When
creating an animation of a recognizable
planet (such as good of Eailh) a serious
glitch occurs if the full width of the
surface in frame one of the pre-anima-
tion is picked up as an animbrush.
Anyone who's tried creating the
World with such a full width animbrush
will have found that continents and is-
lands disappear around one side of the
globe and instantaneously reappear on
the other side. If we lived on such a
world, why, the night would pass in the
blink of an eye. Where would all our
quality computing time go? And our
quality, um ... other time too. Picking
up half the surface in cases such as this
causes a respectable time to elapse be-
fore the land masses return. 'Nuff said.
Go Back
When creating an animbrush for an
unrecognisable planet - or moon - how-
ever, the entire surface in frame one of
the pre-animation can be grabbed for
the brush. This is where my "Go Back"
method of animation comes into its own.
Remember, when the surface pre-ani-
mation is completed frame one has a
single copy of the surface map on it
while all the other frames have a double
map on them.
ACAR46
DELUXE PAINT TUTORIAL
All that's necessary to pick up the
brush for an unfamiliar moon/planet is
simply to grab exactly the surface map
in animation frame one as an animbrush
and away we go.
So what if features return on one
side of the imaginary moon as they dis-
appear off the other, the fact that the
surface is unfamiliar totally disguises
this characteristic. But how hard is it to
draw an unfamiliar lunar surface? What
can I say? I suppose I could say not
very.
First, the moon appears reasonably
light from Earth so select a light grey
colour and draw a filled rectangle as a
base for the map. Moons, in my limited
experience, have craters and craters
thankfully are very easy to draw. Figure
2 shows how.
Drawing the surface
Create a range of greys, select the
horizontal fill type from the fill type
requester and draw a filled circle. Press
Alt/r to reverse the range direction be-
fore drawing a slightly smaller filled
circle. Pick the smaller shape up as a
brush and stamp it down inside the
larger. For variety try using filled el-
lipses rather than circles.
If speed of drawing is important sim-
ply draw the second circle or ellipse
inside the first rather than creating it as
a separate brush. Once the craters are
drawn, pick them up as brushes and
stamp them onto the previously drawn
rectangle.
To make it easy to stay within the
confines of the filled rectangle being
used for the surface map why not create
a stencil which protects the background
colour so only the light grey can be
drawn upon. With the craters completed
you'll find the shadowy hills and smaller
pock marks are also an absolute snap to
draw using Deluxe Paint's "Shade"
drawing mode.
Using shade
Many artists I've found are rather
unsure of the effects created when us-
ing Shade so I've taken the liberty of
including a demonstration in Figure 2.
The colour patches in Figure 2b show
the range of greys I used to create my
moon. Also in 2b I've drawn a large
filled circle using the darkest of these
greys,
I then selected Shade and stamped
down a few squares using the left mouse
button to demonstrate its effect. Note
that each time the brush is stamped when
using the left mouse button the colour
that results on screen is the next one
down the colour range. This will occur
only for the colours within the selected
range and only until the lowest colour is
reached.
Stamping the brush down on a col-
our that is not within the range will
have no effect - at least with Deluxe
Paint 4 and higher. Using the right
mouse button steps the effect up through
the colour range. Now, the hills and
pock marks.
Select a one pixel brush and click the
airbrush tool with the right mouse but-
ton. Adjust the airbrush size down to
about a four pixel wide spray pattern
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and ensure Shade is the selected paint-
ing mode and the range of greys are the
currently selected colour range. With
the earlier stencil still active spray
i around the surface swapping between
the left and right mouse buttons to cre-
ate the desired contours.
Once the surface is completed to your
satisfaction, pick it up as a brush, then
refer to last month's tutorial to measure
its width, set up the correct number of
animation frames and draw the surface
brush pre- animation before grabbing the
actual surface animbrush.
Save this animbrush before clearing
all frames and drawing down a rotating
(through 360 "Z" angle degrees) filled
circle which can then be an unfilled us-
ing the surface animbrush with "Wrap"
selected from the Fill type requester.
Voila! There is a spinning moon
which can itself be grabbed as an
animbrush, ready to be adjusted into an
orbiting moon brush as explained in my
"Warping the Dice" tutorial a couple of
months back. But before rushing into a
planetary system how about moving on
to drawing a half moon.
This will be a realistic halfish moon
to match the shaded Earth created last
month.
Figure 3 shows the steps used for the
real half moon. Follow the diagrams
clockwise from the top left. Before be-
ginning however, call up the Range re-
quester (Ctrl/r) and add the black back-
ground colour to the darkest end of the
moon's colour range.
This will allow the shading of the
moon to fade to the background colour
as our process proceeds. The first pic-
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ACAR 47
DELUXE PAINT TUTORIAL
r
THE MOON
3A
mtgm
The Surface
The Craters
(Alt-r Reverses The Colon- Range Direction)
The Shading Mode Used To
Airbrusti The Surface Features
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th Mouse Click Using The Left Button
Causing Each Colour"!© He One Step
Down In The Selected Colour Range
The R ighl Button Would Step From Lightest
To Darkest lallp This Range
3B
The
Colour
Range
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The Moon llseif
Figure 2
ture shows a suitably sized brush placed
partly over the moon in animation frame
one. I simply grabbed the moon as il
appeared in frame one as a custom brush,
but a filled circle a little larger than the
moon would make a more appropriate
brush.
Whatever brush you choose to use,
place it over the moon and note the co-
ordinates in the title bar for future refer-
ence. Choose "Shade" as the current
painting mode before calling up the
Spacing requester (Shift/v) and select-
ing the "Every Nth Dot" button with its
corresponding number set to about 3.
Select the vector tool before placing the
brush at the previously noted co-ordi-
nates, then draw out a suitably long vec-
tor.
As can be seen in Figure 3 a 55 pixel
vector was sufficient in my case. Yours
may be different. Holding down the
"Shift" key while drawing out the vec-
tor will constrain the mouse to either
the horizontal or vertical plane depend-
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ACAR48
DELUXE PAINT TUTORIAL
ing on the direction of initial move-
ment.
In this case be careful to move the
mouse horizontally initially for a per-
fectly flai vector every time. When the
mouse is released the custom brush will
step across the moon's surface gradu-
ally shading the colours into the back-
ground. If your colours shade the wrong
way, hit "Undo" and try again using the
other mouse button.
With animation frame one completed
move onto each successive frame and
repeal the process. Once all frames are
wrapped up press keyboard 4 to view
your handy work. Pretty neat hey?
So with the mechanics of planetary
motion now deeply entrenched in your
psyche through the teachings of the last
few tutorials, why not set about creat-
ing a complete solar system.
Why not create a rotating sun and
have a rotating Earth orbit it with a
rotating moon orbiting the rotating Earth
orbiting the rotating sun and perhaps
even add a rotating Apollo space craft
orbiting the rotating moon orbiting the
rotating Earth orbiting the
aaaaaarrrrrgh...
If I ever manage to get my arms out
of this, ... struggle, funny coat, I may be
able to tell you a thing or two about
drawing a glittering comet and a mov-
ing stellar background.
Figure 3
Until then, if there exists a deft and
dexterous reader who has an artistic
technique to share with the Australian
Amiga community, or perhaps a raw
and rudimentary reader with a Deluxe
Paint problem needing clarification by
a decrepit old DPainter such as my good
self, let me know. I am contactablc.
Write to: Graham Bowden, C/o
Morayfield Post Office, Morayfield, Qld
4506.
Or if you're ever in the lower right
corner of Queensland chop in to a Bris-
bane Amiga Users Group meeting, I'm
usually there. Ah, here comes the nurse
with dinner, ciao ... Graham, Q
Programmers & Musicians
Need some new quality IFF
instruments & sound effects? Try
Digital Orchestra - exclusive to us
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& not PD. 37 disks at $5.00 each or
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CIlpArt - 50 disks of ClipArt, B&W &
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Ask for RELOKICK 1.3 or
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Over 250 playable game demos.
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Telephone: (050) 946 358
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We always use quality disks with full
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AGAR 49
The Best Word Publish
- (Amiga Format's
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to^tog tf*ffl » ***
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fends against
other males.
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Tigers enee
tanged »U
me *■»
fiwu China
TorlDsy,
but K 1 * 1 *
S"*«?S£ and To**™ 1 -
Final Copy coined the phrase "Perfect Printing on any Printer".
We mean it - this document proven U!
'•' tmdpriac&lm a $twidant24-jKti > a snail
■
■ Borittrz SrWcw i, / fffl j ■ ■■■--(hit Text, V f". f
PritittdoverGrapkfc Images, TcttOMatrng, AetfrFlm rtxtoromdCrapliii j
and qf wmw. /mprJfi" afCofaurand Www GwrpMi s Pkturrs.
We'd simply call it the best Amiga Word
Processor. But if after using it, the experts
insist on calling Final Copy II the best Word
Publisher as well, we're not complaining!
Final Copy 11
<SW^£fflSx^F
'
..M [
Word Publishers go beyond simply producing normal letters and documents
(a! which Final Copy II naturally excels) and progress into a world where how
the whole document looks is just as important as what it says. Admittedly, ihis
can be achieved « ith Desk Top Publishers, but they can't easily be used as ft ord
Processors, especially when a good looking letter needs creaiing quickly •
the) re far loo cumbasome. This is where Final Copy II offers the perfeel
balance between the two requirements. Ease and speed of use, combined with
complete control and perfect final printed presentation.
* +f?£t&&?t%pi-R--BSEX
*' ' ' >■■ ' V <*"• ' *~
Bum™-. Im routine formatting mil navigating
couuiuihl> :. i W nil line WYSIWYG
iii!-i vr.ur pages atctaagiii-
fied up to 40W (or reduced). Long documents ire
supported with Title/Master Pages, Style Sheets
I eft/Right Page Bindag Oftser mil toto Muraberhig.
out text needs Eo be perfect, lue British
inglish Collins Proxlmilj Speller combined with ihe
Thesaurus tfor thai added tnspiiati help you in
Compugraphic, Adobe Type 1 PoslScripi or Nimbus Q PostScript? If you want lots of
fonts, you can have lots of fonts! Final Copy II can use thousands ol superior \dnbe Type 1
or Nimbus Q fonts (the same as those used on professional publishing systems), Both these
types are PostScript fonts, but unlike all other Word Processors you don't need an expensive
PostScript laser to use them! Final Copy Q will print ihem on PostScript lasers, or an\ graphics
capable primer. This includes the dot-matrix or ink-jei you probably already own, Even if you
have your own Compugraphic* fom library you'd still like to use. Final Copy 11 is fully
, compatible, outputting to any graphic printer. Final
Copy 11 is unrivalled in its range of fonts supported.
IHilH
over text fotuwuiiig, »tugu u>u,^ ulg uumhu. lv|*.-
faces included, or any additional fonts, they'll output
pertectlyl - no matter what siie they're scaled to -
with absolutely no jaggies! Opening muliipie docu-
menls also allows ediiing whilst printing in back-
ground mode (free memory dependeni I.
i
■ tlw hcliei I will Iv rc^i : -
Available from alt good Amiga Software Dealers.
orfrotn TupSon, (Australia) - please phone for a lis! of nationwide sloifcisis.
words not ours)
/a
Complete control over how your documents look, now you hare it! Final Copy (1 Incorporates:
On-Srreen Drawing Tools for generating boxes, borders, and lines or arrows at any angle. Multiple
Newspaper Slvle snaking columns, combined with the unique ability to prim the same PostScript
quality outline fonts • on absolutely any primer in portrait or landscape. These all mean thai no mat-
ter what you may have though!, no other Amiga Word Processor has all the capabilities that Final
Copy II users now simply take tor granted!
c nJraosl endless li-t of features includes On-Sown Object On™ big
Tools' (no more importing of borders from drawing packages H
graphics or reverse. highlight leui with selectable rulers lu aid
positioning TteU Auto-Flows around graphic objects ami imported
pfanns, w&ich cm re placed anywhere, seated and cioppcd. with no
■•■ printing quality. Text can also re printed actually over graphics
(refer to The Tiger" heading mi oar document). So oiher Word
Processor for ibe Ami ja offers al I this torts require Kkfc
Man 2 ami Waibench 11 or later, wdh Fmal Copy IE. Thcv *ill not output Mil
PostScript printers from any Won! Pmee^^ir - ,ieiU would always he our wtend
choice. iAII fan* imiI in Final Crjpy II can : t reanfalne thai the
printer will output I.
rr
Distributed and Supported throughout Australia & Sen Zealand by..
*f ■"■' TupSoft (Australia)
TupSofi o Miller Avenue Homsbv NSW2077 Tel: 102)4775353 Fax:|i
Amiga Format think we have the Best Word Publisher.
We'll show you why with a list of features that users lell us
are important (below).
If you'd like to know who's also chosen Final Copy,
Commodore specify it as an option with some of ihe mosi
powerful Amigas available in the United States.
What better recommendation could you have?
Wordworth 2 Final Copy II
1 CcrnpataiewtriiSrajxSa'rf Amiga
1 ^VorJtiercn2CarrHSjgraphk!Fonts
1 ftrwal&wTtriSundaKJAecteTvrJel
1 and Nimbus QScaieabteFYMSeripl Fonts
YES
wwo
YES, W would Suggest
use of Better PostScript Fonts
YES/*ES
1 P&Senpt Font Outlines on all Printers
NO
YES
1 Maximum Number of Prescript Fonts
limited 10 a total erf 35
MM
1 Domfcad gent Fwe to PostScript Printer
NO, Can't dortnlead extra feints
YES. Automatic
1 LarrdscapeiSktewayslPnnring on all Printers
1 RefiaimPi:VitngRew!L^,i.:Qu3ltv1orSea.te
1 (Fteduced and Enlarged! Graphic Images
NO
NO
YES, Automatic
YES. Same High Quatity
when Reduced! and Enlarged
Print any Taxi or Graphic in Cctaif
YES
YES
No. of Cnolll Printed Ln Imported Pictures
Graphics Printing (HAM & W IBM
Text WkFdi [Compress and Expand]
limited by Screen Mode Used
Goad i Graphics Hot Scaled
NO
aaput as Original tmage
Always Best PossibtB
YES
Variable Text Ofcfiqijiej IStonted Teat!
Both Pesiuve and Negative Atinlutes
NO
YES
! Box Rounded fox, arete. EM Line.
Veriatxe border & Arrow Drawing Tools
NO
YES
Crop Prim! to See Imported Graphics
Supports AIXQ'tOOTJ AGA Ot pse 1
Create Border around Graphics and Pictures
NO
YES,J56C«i$creenCokxiij
NO
YES
YES, 256 On-Screen Cokjurs
YES
tirrtistsEnglish SpeSng Ctieckef
YES, Collins Pruximey wrfil
Legal Sr Medkd Suppternents
YES, Coffins PronmaV wilh
Leca! & Medeal Supplemenfc]
British-English Thesaurus
Page View Maonrfcatoris and Reductions
Pert Document white Magnified or Reduced
YES, Collies E6COJ Synonyms
Ore fixed him Prev*.v
NO
YES.&ftisratWSynoiirmj
7VariaWestaoB-»to«CBi
YES
Search & Replete 1150 wet* in 934J, 7 Pages
hKtex end Table of Cotsents
Multiple Newspaper Style Snatmg Columns
Style Sheels, fiiaaer Pages, Tele Pages
61 Seconds lOnAntigaAl MB
YES, Automatic
YES,ZB32
NO
7 Seconds (On Amiga AIM
NO, Requires Manual Entry
YES.2106
YES
Uses Standard Amiga Cupboard for CurnVtg
& Pasting to and from DnTeran Arxxcauwts
NO
YES
SmaU Capo Typographical Control
NO
YES
Conforms to Commodore's Amiga
Standard look & FeeT Gotfelines
NO. Men Sunljrd User
Menace
YES
Orr-Scrcen Mains (Column AdtRion]
NO
YES
eoport ASCII Tea horn any Word Processor
Registration, Upgrade and Support
YES
YES
YES
YES
FrwMemoiYftecuwBd
1.5Mb. Mininum
Mora Recommended
lMbfvWmum
Mora Recommended
Ongoing Technical Phone Support
Contact Ctsnibutw
YES, Free of Charge
Recommended Retail Price
S2690Q
£199.%
SoftWood - Quality software for your Amiga
With Final Copy II you're not just getting a one offprodui
SoftWood are acknowledged as Ike World's leading software
company who develop fur the Amiga, ami no other system.
Once you're a registered SoftWood product owner,
iv hi 'II be gaining a< ress to unlimited free technical
support (others may charge), ami preferential
upgrades to new versions of this and'
other exciting products being
developed right miwl
102)4775353 Fas: (02*4765736
>^MI»<eieitadl>iEuHeUgii!ljd.CBni^
EDUCATION COLUMN
Learn to Play
the
(7ian2
^T by Stan Nirenl
I can still remember the good old days
when my parents tried to instill in
me a bit of culture. They would send
me to piano lessons every Wednesday
evening. The routine in those days was
based around perfecting technique
through repetitious practice of scales,
arpeggios and numerous other drills.
In between there was the fun of learn-
ing to play new compositions. At least I
was lucky - my teacher was kindly. I
was reading somewhere that Beethoven
(who taught piano in his spare time to
help make ends meet) was usually im-
patient with his pupils and would hit
them over the knuckles when they made
a mistake.
hi today's fast, materialistic society,
we all want to be virtuoso pianists in no
time flat and with the least amount of
effort possible. The bad news is that
there is absolutely no short cut that I
know of to becoming proficient at play-
ing any instrument - results come only
through hours of practice.
The approach adopted these days for
teaching children to play the piano has
changed, in the same way thai people
have moved away from forcing an edu-
cation onto children towards nurturing
and encouraging them to use their in-
built curiosity to learn.
A number of piano teaching meth-
ods are widely available, music has be-
come a more important part of the cur-
riculum in many schools and a number
of music courses (most notably, Yamaha
Nirenberg
and Suzuki) have become well estab-
lished. The emphasis is on capturing
the interest of the potential musicians
through fun activities so that students
are encouraged to put in the practice
that is required to achieve good results.
The other big advance in musical
education has been due to the techno-
logical revolution that we are all experi-
encing, particularly in electronics.
Whereas 20 or 30 years ago we had
to make do with acoustic instruments,
today we have access to any number of
electronic keyboards, some even emu-
lating the sound and feel of a real piano.
Another interesting development has
been the marrying of modem computer
electronics to traditional acoustic instru-
ments to produce the modem version of
the player piano.
However, instead of using a paper
role with perforations, the music is
stored in digital format on computer
disk. Prerecorded disks can be used as
an example of how pieces can be per-
formed. In addition, this system can be
used to record the student's own play-
ing, allowing him or her to stand back
and critically evaluate their progress.
To take this even further, the elec-
tronics can be used to play one part of
the composition (say the left hand of a
piano piece) while the student practices
the other part (the right hand).
Enter your Amiga
This concept has been taken a step
further with the release of the Miracle
Piano system a couple of years back.
Here, the Miracle Piano (an electronic,
four octave keyboard) is attached to the
Amiga computer via a special interface
and cable.
The supplied software controls the
keyboard and provides the student with
guidance and accompaniment as he
learns the progressively harder series of
piano works. The software is quite clever
in that it includes a structured set of
lessons and helps the user develop his
Figure 1 - Tape recorder screen of Tiger Cub
w
iger Cub vl
iiMKamiiiHiiMwiMiflu
ACAR 52
or her musical skills. The package as a whole is well priced
and provides a good introduction to music.
For those who already have a keyboard or are contemplat-
ing buying something better than the Miracle Piano, there is
an alternative. One of the drawbacks of the Miracle Piano is
that it has a four octave keyboard which means that it is not
possible to play very complex pieces of music.
The more standard electronic keyboard provides a range
of five octaves, and can be purchased with all the bells and
whistles (and other sound effects!) imaginable, limited only
by the size of one's wallet.
it.
"pianists in no time flat
and with the least amount
of effort possible'
.»
A five octave keyboard will be suitable for the beginning
pianist for a number of years, but ultimately, there will come
a time when there is a need to go to a full size piano keyboard
to play the more challenging and interesting pieces of music.
So what is the alternative? If the electronic keyboard is
MIDI capable (I shall explain all in a minute), purchasing a
MIDI interface for the Amiga and using sequencing software
allows you to help the budding pianist get more value out of
his instrument. But first, some more technical talk.
MIDI
What is MIDI? It stands for Musical Instrument Digital
Interface and is a standard developed by the music industry to
allow electronic instruments, drum machines and sequencers
to be connected together. In fact, you may have noticed that a
lot of modern bands use computer controlled instruments
during their performances to produce a sound that would
normally require a much larger orchestra of live musicians.
To use MIDI capable instruments with your computer,
you need to buy a MIDI interface. This is usually a small box
that attaches to the serial port of the Amiga and incorporates a
number of sockets labelled in, out and through.
Note that the through socket is not necessary and is only
useful if you want to connect more than one electronic instru-
ment to the computer. A pair of cables are used to connect the
electronic keyboEird to the MIDI interface - instructions should
be available with the interface when you purchase it.
The cost of an interface varies and starts from about $50.
The more expensive units seldom work better but their con-
struction quality is usually superior.
It is worthwhile buying a MIDI interface that allows the
serial port to be switched through. This allows you to keep
the interface always connected to the computer but still use
your modem when you want to.
GSOFT Australia Pty Ltd,
is proud to provide:
Reasonable prices and
genuine customer service
9:00 AM to 12 MIDNIGHT
7 DAYS a week!
We trade at hours that suit YOU.
This months Specials:
TurboPrint Pro $99
Call us if you need upgrade information
Video Backup Systems $150
Great! - Up to 200Meg on a single tape
High Density Drives $299
External! works with ANY Amiga
PageStream 2.22 $165
A bargain with budget V3 upgrade offer
AREXX Cook Book $75
Inc 2 disks with Dopus/Adpro examples
The BOX 150MEG $CALL
150Meg Removable drive. Lightning
fast and nearly INDESTRUCTABLE.
Coming soon.. BRILLIANCE
Also available, PARNET Cables,
Vidil2, Essence Alladin, Morph Plus,
ADPro, PixeBDPro, Final Copy,
VistaPro, Superbase, Optical mice and
much more
Let us help with all
your Amiga Needs
GSOFT Australia Pty Ltd
PO Box 59, Elizabeth
South Australia 5114
Fax (08)254 2261
Phone (08)254 2261
Supporting AUSTRALIAN products.
EDUCATION COLUMN
Figure 2 - Tiger Cub editing screen
Sequencing software
The sequencing software is what
makes it all happen. The easiest way to
describe a sequencer is to liken it to an
electronic tape recorder - it allows you
to record and play back music on an
electronic keyboard. In fact, most
sequencing software represents its func-
tions in the form of a tape recorder on
screen (see Figure I).
However, there is much more to this
software. Generally, a sequencer gives
the user complete control of how the
music is played or recorded. It can con-
trol volume, program (the sound that is
produced), how hard each note is played
(the velocity), how many parts are
played (you can run a whole band from
the one keyboard) and so on.
In addition, the software provides
extensive editing facilities, which is not
only great for fixing up those mistakes
we make when recording (I certainly
do) but adds a creative dimension to the
whole process. This sure beats a tradi-
tional tape recorder! Figure 2 shows the
Tiger Cub editing screen.
As with MIDI interfaces, a whole
raft of sequencing software is available,
varying widely in price. I use the some-
what ageing (and in some respects lim-
ited) Tiger Cub package. I bought this
as part of the Alter Audio pack that
Commodore were selling a few years
r Jfr
Computer
affair
* Amiga !
* Educat
* Small Bl
* Home C
* Networ
* Desktop
* CD-ROr
* Training
Qs Authc
337 Pensh
T
Fax: 02-41
Love at first byte
Specialist
on Systems & '
jsiness Solutior
Office Compul
<ing & Cornim
) Publishing &
71 & MultiMedi
, Tuition & Woi
)rised Commod
urstSt,,Wiouf
el: 02-41 7-515!
7-5542 BBS; 02
rraining
1S
er Systems
jnications
Video
a Solutions
kshops
ore Dealer
ghby 2068
-970-6444
BLANK DISKS:
Box 10x3.5" DSDD $7
400DPI Grey-Scale
Hand Scanner $250
MultiFaceCard II $345
Retina w/4Mb
VLab
$950
$640
14,400 Ext. Modems:
Maestro 144M $535
Maestro 144FM $575
Amiga 600 1 Mb
RAM Exp w/Clock $99
2Mb CHIP RAM Upgr.
(includes 2Mb Agnus
Chip anri RAM!!) tram:
A500 (Rev. 6+) $250
A2000 (Rev. 6+) $200
AMIGA 1200
MBX-1200z4Mb CALL!
40Mb 2.5" HD
85Mb 2.5" HD
127Mb 2.5" HD
209Mb 2.5" HD
$200
$420
$570
$845
■■TTni^l.-imreWSTTHiqin
GVP A1230 40MHz:
No RAM/No FPU $850
4Mb RAM/68882 $11 75
Quantum HD's
85Mb SCSI
127Mb SCSI
1 70Mb SCSI
240Mb SCSI
525Mb & above.
$385
$440
$485
$650
CALL! I
w
•JESSES*"-'
SYNAPSE COMPUTER SUPPLIES
91 Belgrave Street
MORNINGIDE OLD 4170
P.O. Box 41,
BULIMBA OLD 4171
Ph: (07) 899-0980 or (018) 981-679 Fax; (07)847-1228
ACAR54
EDUCATION COLUMN
back, although the software can be pur-
chased separately for around $100 to
$150.
For those who want something bet-
ter (and much more expensive), there is
Dr T's KCS or Bars and Pipes Profes-
sional. Note that the top end software is
superior to the simpler packages in terms
of functionality and ease of use. For
those on a really tight budget, have a
look at what is available in the public
domain libraries. A number of MIDI
compatible packages are available.
Putting it all together
Our young son has been taking pi-
ano lessons for about 18 months so far.
In this time I have seen him make great
progress, and as a result of this his de-
sire to become more proficient at the
instrument has also grown. I am sharing
this with you to show that encourage-
ment and fun are two of the most im-
portant ingredients to foster learning.
The child's natural curiosity is the
other. And part of this has been the
Amiga computer.
To help with the musical education,
I recorded a number of the pieces that
he was learning at the time. It is not
important to be able to play the instru-
ment well at all because the sequencing
software can help enormously. For a
start, the left and right hand parts of the
piece can be recorded separately, and at
a much slower speed than they would
be normally played. Any mistakes can
than be edited out.
The music can than be replayed to
help the child with practice. The speed
of replay can be chosen to match the
abilities of the child, and increased as
skill improves. The whole piece can be
played as an example, or the right or
left hand can be played as an accompa-
niment while the other part is played by
the child.
This not only forces the child to keep
time, but also shows how the melody
BLI ARD
A2000/500
Turbo Memory Board
O Memory Expans ion f or u p to 8 M b of Fast R AM .
O Memory configurations 1 ,2.3,4,5,6 or 8Mb.
O 68000 CPU running-at; Ji.MHz.
O Switchable between 7:agd'i4,Mhz modes.
O Full DMA compatible: memoryi ■.
O 2 year warranty: -'>■'„'">' v>,s ;?= ;
High performance FASTSCSI-ll DMA controller.
"32 bit Zorro III interfac&^A30pO/A4fJ0O).
MSrnory Expansion for up1tHl92Mb of Fast RAJifi.
External SCSI- 1 1 port
DYI^MICACHETMtor" additional performs
Made in Germany, 2 year warranty.
BLI 7ARD
A 1200/4
Memory Board
X ■■ Fully .populated 4Mb32 bit' FAST RAM
: '- : ^expansion '
i Fits- p erf acly in- to the- "Trap Door" slot.
> MatH Coprocessor Socket-
J Expandable to 8Mb with the' Biizaard ADD*.
Mow Avaitsbfe
£}.. 2 year warranty.
:- ■ ■ I
should sound. The more adventurous
parent can create a more elaborate ac-
companiment with other instrument
sounds or drum rhythms. And older chil-
dren (and adults for that matter) may
wish to experiment with multipart har-
mony and creating music.
As you may have already guessed,
this short article cannot go into the de-
tails of setting up and using a MIDI
studio. I simply want to present you
with ideas and start you experimenting
with the possibilities. Instructions for
using a MIDI interface and sequencing
software should be available with the
products when you buy them.
Correspondence
I would be more than happy to share
your experiences or suggestions. As
usual, please write in with your com-
ments, questions, etc to me care of
AGAR or directly to PO Box 136, For-
est Hill, Vic 3131. Q
.-•■■''' .'':'' " ■■-".■ '" -- :
: "+r^
Now withJk
18 Hampton Rd Keswick 5035 TEL:(08) 293 8752 FAX:(08) 293 8814
ACAR 55
I
CANDO
CanDo
Column
by Greg Abernethy
Make Your Own Calendar
This month we will be designing a
Calendar Maker, that will enable
you to print a calendar for any
month or to print calendars for a com-
plete year.
The program requires that you have
the font DIAMOND 20 in your fonts
drawer and GraphicDump in the same
directory as the deck. I use
GraphicDump for printing the calendar
but you may prefer to save the calendar
as an IFF file and print it from Deluxe
Paint or another graphic printing pro-
gram. The main drawback with
GraphicDump is the 10 second delay
before printing commences. This tuto-
rial will consist of one card and a
SubDeck.
Creating the Calendar Page
The specifications for the window
NO WINDOW NAME
WINDOW SPECIFICATIONS
X POSITION = : Y POSITION =
WIDTH = 320 : HEIGHT = 256
NUMBER OF COLOURS = 4
NO GADGETS
WINDOW OPTIONS
THE WINDOW HAS INVISIBLE BORDERS TRY TO
OPEN WINDOW ON WORKBENCH
CARD SPECIFICATIONS
CARD NAME "Calendar"
BEFOREATTACHMENT SCRIPT
LoadSubDeck TheC u rrentOi recto ry I !"Cal S ub","Sub°
Let Names = "Januaiy:February:March:April:May:
June:J^:AugustSeptembe€OtSotenNove(nber.Decennbef'
Let Month = GetWord(TneDate,l.T)
tf GetChars(Month,1,1) = "0"
Lei Monlh = RemoveChars(Month,1,1)
Endlf
Let Year = GetWorrj(TheDate,3,T)
If Year > 40
Let Year = "19"IIYear
Else
Let Year = "20"IIYear
Endlf
Do "CreateYear"
Explanation:
The script loads the SubDeck from
the current directory, assigns the vari-
able NAMES with a string containing
all the months of the year, and then sets
the MONTH and YEAR variables cor-
rectly for creating the calendar for the
current month.
AFTERATTACHMENT SCRIPT
DetacbObjecf "PrintMonth"
DetachObject "PrintYear"
Do "DrawDates"
Explanation:
This script detaches the print objects,
(explained in detail later) and then draws
the calendar for the current month on
the screen.
MESSAGEFR0MSU8DECK SCRIPT
Let Montti = ARG2
Let Year = AflG3
If ARGt = "M"
ClearWindow
Do "CreateYear"
Do "DrawDates"
Etself ARG1 = W
ReattactiObjecl "PrintMonth"
Elself ARG1 = "PY"
ReattachObject TrintYear"
Endlf
Explanation:
This script receives instructions from
the SubDeck card. (See SubDeck sec-
tion for full details).
Rugust 1^3
SUN
o|Cstendar Options
Month 1-5^1 Iflugust
I «l
Year
I^H
H993
Print Current Month
Print Current Year
SUN
22
SUN
23
MON
23
MUN
30
TUE
24
TUE
31
UJED
25
THU
261
FRi
271
SHT
29
CRLENDRR
ACAR 56
,
Creating the Timer Objects
H is necessary to create two timer
objects for printing either the calendar
for the current month or for the year.
This is due to the fact that when a mes-
sage is received from a SubDeck the
SubDeck window is not removed from
the screen until the script has been ex-
ecuted. If I tried to print the current
month with the SubDeck window stiil
displayed, it would be printed as well.
The only solution is to activate a timer,
so that the MessageFromSubDeck script
can finish executing before any printing
operation is commenced,
"PrintMonth" TIMER OBJECT
NAME "PrintMonth"
MINUTES
SECONDS
JIFFIES 10
SCRIPT
DetachObject "Popup"
Dos TheCu rrentD irectory I l"G raphie Dum p"
ReattachQbject "Popup"
DetachObject "PrintMonth"
Explanation:
This script detaches the object for
the Fl key, runs Graph icDump using
the Dos command, and then reattaches
the Fl key object, and detaches the
"PrintMonth" Timer object.
"PrintYear" TIMER OBJECT
NAME "PrintYear"
MINUTES
SECONDS
JIFFIES 10
SCRIPT
DetachObject "Popup"
fet Month =
Loop
Let Month = Month + 1
ClearWindow
Do "Create Year"
Do "DrawDates"
Dos The C urre ntDirecto ryl I "G raph icDump"
Until Month = 12
ReatlachObject "Pop Up"
DetachObject "Print Year"
Explanation:
This script detaches the object for
the Fl key, and then uses a loop to print
each month for the selected year using
GraphicDump. It then reattaches the Fl
key object, and detaches the "Print Year"
Timer object.
Creating the Key Input Objects
There arc two Key Input objects to
be designed. They are;
"Popup" KEY INPUT OBJECT
NAME "Popup"
QUALIFIER NONE
KEY CODE F1
RELEASED SCRIPT
OpenReques!efSLib","Options",Morith,Year
Explanation:
This script simply calls the SubDeck,
and passes the current month and year
to it.
"Quit" KEY INPUT OBJECT
NAME "PopUp"
QUALIFIER NONE
KEY CODE ESCAPE
RELEASED SCRIPT
Quit
ROUTINES
CREATEYEAR Routine SCRIPT
If Year/4 = Integer! Year/4)
Let Days = "31/29/31/30/31/30/31/31/30/31/30/
31"
Else
Let Days = "3 1/28/3 1/30/3 1/30/3 1/31/30/3 1/30/
31"
Endlf
Dispose Months
Let x =
Loop
Let x = x + 1
Let Month5[x],Days = GetWorrJ[Days,x,"0
Until x = 12
This Routine sets the number of days
for each month of the current year. It is
necessary to check if the year is a leap
year by dividing the year by four to see
if it divides evenly in which case it is a
leap year.
"DrawDates" ROUTINE
SetPen 1
DrawReclangle 7,0,307,30
DrawRectangle 8,1,305,28
Let x = 7
Let y = 31
Loop
DrawReclangle x,y ,43,38
DrawRectangle x ■+ 1 ,y + 1 ,41 ,36
Let x = x + 44
lfx>308
Letx = 7
CANDO
Let y = y + 39
Endlf
Until y> 201
DrawRectangle 7,226,307,30
DrawRectangle 0,227,305,28
SelPrintFont "diamond", 20
PrinfTextCenterStringfGelWordfNames,
Month,";")IIIYear,32},0,6
PrintTexl CenterString("CALEN DAfl",32),0,234
Let2 =
Letx = 10
Let y = 34
Loop
Let2 = z + 1
Do "Wh ich Day" , z, M onlh, Year
SelPrintFont "diamond",^
PrintTexl wd.x.y
SelPrintFont "diamond",20
PrintText RightJjstify(z,2).x + 12,y + 17
Let x = x + 44
If x > 303
Let x = 10
Let y = y + 39
Endlf
Until i = Months[Month].Days
This Routine draws the calendar for
the current month on the screen. I have
used white as the background colour
and black as the foreground colour,
"WhichDay' ROUTINE
LetDy = ARG1
Let Mn = ARG2
LetYr = ARG3
ilMn<3
LetMn = Mn + 12
Let Yr = Yr - 1
Endlf
Letn=Dy+2'Mn+Whole(.6Q009*(Mn+1))
+ Yr+Whole( Yr/4)- Whole(Yr/1 00)+ Whole (Yr/400)+2
Let n = Who!e{(nT7 - Whole (n/7))*7+.5)
lfn = Q
Letwd = "SAT"
Efselfn = 1
Let wd = "SUN"
Elself n = 2
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Mt, Kuring-Gai NSW 2080
Phone (02) 457 81 1 1 Fax (02) 457 8739
Software and
accessories for
Amiga and C64
ACAR 57
CANDO
Le!wd = "M0N"
Elself n = 3
Letwd = TUE"
Elself n = 4
Letwd = "WED"
Elself n = 5
Letwd = THU"
Else
LetwJ = "FRI"
Endlf
Tliis routine determines the actual
day for the current date.
Creating the Sub Deck Card
The specifications for the window
WINDOW NAME "Calendar Options..."
WINDOW SPECIFICATIONS
X POSITION = 40 : Y POSITION = 30
WIDTH = 240: HEIGHT = 110
NUMBER OF COLOURS = 4
CLOSE GADGET : DRAG BAR GADGET
WINDOW OPTIONS
THE WINDOW HAS VISIBLE BORDERS TRY TO
OPEN WINDOW ON THE CURRENT SCREEN
CLOSEBUTTON Script
Quit
A TEXT DATABASE
* reference library software
* 40 subjects per path,
300 entries per subject,
20 text lines and a drawing
* search using patterns
* to arrange a presentation,
call us on (02) 820 9758
* all AMIGA including 1200
Lisa Developments Pty Ltd
PO Box 115
Minto NSW 2566
5GL-Library $85
(libraries) $20
5GL-WordProcessor $150
Custom Built (inquire)
We can 'combine' our software
modules to put together an
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business at a fraction of the cost
of development.
CARD SPECIFICATIONS
CARD NAME "Options"
BEFOREATTACHMENT SCRIPT
Let Month = ARG1
Let Year = ARG2
Let Months =
\J an ja ry: Fe b ruary: March :Ap ril: May: Ju rie :Ju ly;
Aug usLSeptembenO ctobenN ovember: December"
Explanation:
The arguments sent from the Parent
Deck are set as well as the MONTHS
variable.
AFTERATTACHMENT SCRIPT
SetPen 1
PrirtText "Month", 15,21
PririfTexrYearM5,5
DrawBorder 70,1 8, 1 8,7,DOUBLEBEVEL
PrintText"»",71,18
DrawBorder 70,30, 18,7,DOUBLEBEVEL
PrintText"«",71,30
DrawBorder 70,48,18,7.DOUBLEBEVEL
PrintText"»",71,48
DrawBorder 70,60,1 8,7,DOUBLEBEVEL
PrintTexr«",71,60
SetText ,, Month",GetWotd(Months,Month,V)
SetText "Year, Year
Explanation:
This script sets the FORWARD and
REVERSE arrows and sets the current
month and year fields.
FORWARD AND REVERSE
BUTTON SPECIFICATIONS
MONTH FORWARD BUTTON
NAME "MUp"
ORIGIN X = 70:Y = 18
SIZE X = 18:Y= 7
NO BORDER : COMPLEMENT
CLICK SCRIPT
Loop
Let Month = Month + 1
If Month = 13
Let Month = 1
Endlf
SetText "Monlh", Get Word [Months .Month,*;")
Delay 0,0,5
Until Not ObjectStateCMJp")
RELEASE SCRIPT
SendToParentDeck "M", Month .Year
MONTH REVERSE BUTTON
NAME "MDowrf
Amiganuts
P.O Box 9001, Wiisonton, Toowoomba QLD 4350
Phone (076)331172 Fax(076)3311?2
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Complete new version $95.00
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COMMODORE SERVICE
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ALL COMMODORES AMIGA
WARRANTY and
NON-WARRANTY REPAIRS
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PRICES and
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Samuel St, Camp Hill, Qld 4152
(07)395 2211
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5 Clifford St, Stafford Qld 4053
(07)857 6311
ACAR 58
CANDO
ORIGIN X = 70:Y = 3Q
SIZE X = 18:Y= 7
NO BORDER : COMPLEMENT
CLICK SCRIPT
Loop
Let Month = Month - 1
If Month =
Let Month =12
Endlf
SetText"Month",G9tWofd[Months,Month 1 ": , l
Delay 0,0,5
Until Not ObjecfStalef'MDown")
RELEASE SCRIPT
SendToParentDeck "M",Month,Year
YEAR FORWARD BUTTON
NAME "YUp"
ORIGIN X = 70:Y = 48
SIZE X = 18:Y= 7
NO BORDER : COMPLEMENT
CLICK SCRIPT
Loop
Let Year = Year + 1
SetText "Yeaf,Year
Delay 0,0,5
Until Not ObjectStatefYUp")
RELEASE SCRIPT
SendToParentDeck "M",Month,Year
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YEAR REVERSE BUTTON
NAME "YDown"
ORIGIN X = 70:Y = 6Q
SIZE X = 18:Y= 7
NO BORDER : COMPLEMENT
CLICK SCRIPT
Loop
Let Year = Year -1
SetText "Year, Year
Delay 0,0,5
Until Not ObiectStateCYDown")
RELEASE SCRIPT
SendToParentDeck "M", Month, Year
Explanation:
These buttons rotate the month and
year backward and forward.
PRINT MONTH BUTTON
NAME "PMonttf
ORIGIN X = 32:Y = 73
TEXT "Print Current Month"
SHADOW : COMPLEMENT
RELEASE SCRIPT
SendToParentDeck "PM", Month .Year
Quit
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We Accepl Bankcard, Mastercard and Visacard
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PRINT YEAR BUTTON
NAME "PYear"
ORIGIN X = 36:Y = 9t
TEXT " Print Current Year"
SHADOW : COMPLEMENT
HELEASE SCRIPT
SendToParentDeck TY",Momh,Year
Quit
MONTH FIELD
NAME "Month"
ORIGIN X = 100:Y = 22:WIDTH = 131
BORDER = DOUBLEBEVEL
TYPE = TEXT 32 Characters LEFT JUSTIFY
No SCRIPT
MONTH FIELD
NAME "Year"
ORIGIN X= 100 :Y = 53: WIDTH = 131
BORDER = DOUBLEBEVEL
TYPE = TEXT 32 Characters LEFTJUSTIFY
No SCRIPT
Last Words
The only requirements for this pro-
gram is that the SubDeck and
GraphicDump are in the same location
as the Main Deck. Have fun! Q
He
Software Pty Ltd.
The acclaimed
Australian Graphic Atlas
is now even better
Version 3.5
has been released with
RUN TIME
no more need for Amiga Vision.
* ATLAS $89.95
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Come see us at the
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Fax (08) 262 4461
ACAR 59
C64 COLUMN
C64
Column
Parallel Cable Source
Some welcome news for users in need
of a parallel cable for their printers.
Graham Cattley designs and builds suit-
able cables, which arc 100% compat-
ible with GEOS and will suit all printers
with a Centronics interface. The cables
cost $29.95 for a two metre long cable,
or can be made to your specified length
for an extra $3.00 per metre. Prices in-
clude postage to anywhere in Australia.
Graham can also supply his own in-
terface program which is compatible
with nearly all BASIC and machine lan-
guage programs, even commercial soft-
ware. The software features selectable
line feeds with carriage return, mulfi-
strike capabilities for up to 10 pass print-
ing, automatic word counting, optional
PetSCIl to ASCII conversion, transpar-
ent mode for graphics, and will emulate
device #4. The software is supplied on
disk or tape, along with GEOS printer
drivers, full instructions and demonstra-
tion software for $5.00.
To order, or for further details, con-
tact Graham Cattley by writing to PO
Box N42 1 , Gros venor PI, Sydney NSW
2001.
Graphics Guide
One of the more fascinating aspects
of the C64, at least in the earlier part of
its life, was its graphic capabilities. The
C64 was bom in an age when chunky
monochrome graphics was the norm on
even the larger desktop machines, yet
here was an affordable home computer
with a 16 colour palette and a surpris-
ingly high resolution display. Certainly,
compared with today's Amigas and
Opal Vision the C64's graphics begin to
look a little silly, but it's still a great
place to start.
Software Options
GeoPaint
GeoPaint is bundled as part of the
GEOS System, making it one of the
easiest and more professional looking
packages available. If you're at all fa-
miliar with the Macintosh's MacPaint
then you'll recognise many of
geoPaint's elements.
Along the left hand side of the screen
is your artist's toolbox. It's here that
you select your tool (pen. brush, fill,
ruler, etc) which will be applied to the
geoPaint 'canvas', which takes up most
of the remaining screen.
As with all GEOS applications,
geo Paint is most happily used with a
mouse, but joysticks and other input
devices are all quite usable.
Unlike many of the other packages
listed here, geo Paint is designed with
printed output in mind. You view only
a small portion of the entire available
page at a lime, making it very easy to
create larger page-sized graphics. A full-
page preview mode is available should
you wish to get an overall view of how
your printed page will look.
Availability: GeoPaint is part of the
GEOS system package, which also in-
cludes a full-featured word processor,
spell check and a windows-like operat-
ing system. GEOS is available from
Code One Computer Services for $69.00
+ $4.00 p/p. Code One Computer Serv-
ices, PO Box 192, Katoomba NSW
2780, Tel/Fax (047) 57 3982.
The toot menufi'om Koala Paint
i
Frawe
OP''
1 £=33i
Line
Box
■ ■■■ ■ * • - , .■
ill
SaHB
Lines Rays
XCt W ^-^
ir
™-__™J
Oops
■ "V
■■- ^Tffiffim^
Cirtle \ Xcolor
Mirror
Disc ! Copy
Swap
|
Fill j Zooh
Storage |
E^lllc^ll
H
|
Brushes
Erase
■
ACAR 60
C64 COLUMN
geoCanvas
A relatively new offering from CMD
is geoCanvas, again for use with GEOS,
geoCanvas was designed to be a supe-
rior alternative to the standard geoPaint,
a task it achieves with mixed results.
Unlike geoPaint, geoCanvas will
NOT run on a bare minimum system.
This beast will require at least 512k of
RAM just for starters, and a 1581 drive
is highly recommended. It provides
many functions that geoPaint doesn't
allow, such as a polygon tool, a more
useful ruler, larger text sizes, and the
ability to open up to three documents at
a time. In several other areas, however,
it doesn't quite come up to geoPainfs
standard. If you're serious about graph-
ics, and GEOS is your preferred operat-
ing system, I'd recommend you get both.
It's very easy to trade files from one to
the other if you get half way through a
job and find you'd prefer to use a fea-
ture of the other.
Availability: GeoCanvas requires the
presence of GEOS and 5 1 2k RAM. Price
is around $59.00 + p/p from Logico,
PO Box 572, Marrickville NSW 2204
Tel (02) 55S 1 884. It was also available
from Novo Computer Hardware, but at
present this company can' t be contacted.
OCP Art Studio/Advanced Art
Studio
Often described as the best C64
graphics package, Art Studio provides
quite an impressive range of features.
Although mouse support is limited to
the older style 1350 mice (which weren't
true mice, rather the joystick's hick
cousin from out of town), this package
is still very useful.
All of the usual functions are pro-
vided (draw, fill, polygon, airbrush),
along with a few unexpected features.
Art Studio's big brother, Advanced
Art Studio, provided even more useful-
ness in the form of low-resolution as
well. Probably the biggest drawback of
the C64's colour screen is that it's based
on a series of 8 x 8 cards, with a maxi-
mum of two colours per card. What this
means to the user is that unless a lot of
care is taken when filling areas with
colour, you'll find fills exceeding their
boundaries and creating a horrible jag-
ged effect when adjacent to other filled
areas.
Advanced Art Studio provided a low-
Australian Commodore & Amiga Review back issues still available
JUi.Yl992Vai.9Nn7
• AMOS tor the beginner • Phoenix Colour Digitizer
• Quick and easy video tilling • What Ihe manual doesn't
lell you • AMOS - VI onus • Can Do - text editor • Super
Workbench III PD • C64/12B - Gateway • Games -Titus
the Fox, Harlequin, Mega-Pack 2, Baron Baldric, Legend.
SimArit
Nov 1992 Vol 9 No 11
• Amiga DOS 3,1 and 3.0 • Artificial Landscape
• DPainl- ihe right moves • CanDo - designing databases
• AMOS - AMOS Pro new features • C64<128 -
GeoCanvas. floppy drives • Games - Great Napoleonic
Battles, California Games II, AGE, Epic, Treasures ol Ihe
Savage Frontier. Tsnnis Cup II
Dec 1992 Vol 9 No 12
• Opal Vision • Blizzard Turbo Board Memory
• Video Director • BBSs • AMOS Professional
• CanDo - database reports • C64/128 - C64 to PC,
GeoWrile • Games - Myth, Dqjo Dan, Liverpool, Crazy
Cars It. Hook. Crime City
Januabv 1993 Vol 10 No 1
• CanDO V2.0 • Mini Olfice • Hard Disk Standards
• Removeable mass storage • Amiga Conference
• Display System • Deluxe Paint Masterpiece
• Pagestream Hollrnks 1 . 1 • AMOS - AMAL
• CanDo - AP.EXX • C64/12B ■ Primer Problems,
GeoVISlON, Modems • Games - Zool. Traddlers, Jaguar
XJ220, Aquatic Games, PD Games, Robosport
March 1993 Vol 10 No 3
• Dirwork and Diskmaster • Crystal Sound
• AmiBack Vs Quarter Back • Prolracker • DTP -
Technique & design • CanDo - A word Scramble game
• Opaf - digital image composition * C64 - Geos Utilities
Games - Hagar Ihe Horrible, Howzall, Nigel Mansell's World
Championship, Nick Faldo's Championship Golf, Paperboy
2, Tearaway Thomas
April 1993 Vol 10 No 4
• Word Processing Comparison • How lo Connect Two
Computers • Getting Started wilh Scripting - Part It
• Virtual Reality Today • Multi Plot XLNe • CanDo -
Pattern Matching Game • DTP • Hoi PD • Amos
Column - Dual Play fields • Deluxe Paint Tulorial - Hi-res
• Andy's Altic - Workbench 2 • C64 - PD Update
• Games - Curse ot Enchantia, Wing Commander, Shadow
of the Beast III, A-Train. Pinball Dreams, Catch 'Em
June 1993 Volt No 5
• 3D Animation with Aladdin • The Animation Workshop
• New Releases lor WOC Show • How to Beat Ihose Disk
Swapping Bfues • Deluxe Painl Tutorial - Animating in
(apparent) 3D • Amos Column • Andys Attic - Exploring
WB2 • CanDo - Your own Directory Utility Parti
• Education Column - World Consl ruction Set • Down the
Opal Mine - Using the Alpha Channel • C64 Column -
Which 12B WP, For Sale • Hot PD
• Games - KGB,
Fate - Gates of Dawn, Darkseed, Civilisation, King's Quest
Full Solution Part l
July 1993 Vol 10 No 7
• Real 3D 2.0 • Understanding Accelerators • Dual
Personality - Running MS-Dos Software with Golden Gate
486 • WOC Show Guide • Microdeal Clarity - New cheap
16-bit sound Sampler • Home Accounts 2 • Deluxe Paint
Tulorial - Animation in (apparent) 3D • Education Column -
Back to Basics • Amos Column -The New Turbo
Extension VI. 75 • CanDo - Vour own Directory Utlily Part 3
• C64 Column - Tricks and Tips • Andy's Attic - Buying
PD • Hoi PD - Latest Public Domain • Games - The
Chaos Engine, Beavers, SleepWalker, Vikings Solutions -
SuperFrog and Kings Quest Part 2
August 1993 Vol 10 No B
• Show Report ■ WOC Amiga Show • Vidi Amiga 12 -
Capture video to disk • Update: Final Copy II • Amiga
Games Console al Last • Perfect Sounds - sound digitising
• A Quick Intro lo Desktop Video • Hypercache
Professional - Cache program • Education Column -
Australian Graphics Atlas • CanDO - Communications
program and primer utility • Deluxe Painl Tutorial - floating
Baubles • C64 Column • Amos Column - Write belter
games withoul tome • Down the Opal Mine - OpalPainfs
Zap function • Hot PD • Games - Hired Guns, Trolls,
Graham Gooch World Class Crickel Solution - SuperFrog
Part 2
September 1993 Vol 10 No9
• An Expression - SottLogic's answer lo Professional Draw
• 68060 ■ the Nexl Generation - What will the Amiga be like
with this new last processor? • Your righl to a Backup
Solved - Power Copy Professional will copy just about
anything • Quarterback Tools Deluxe - A must have for
disaster recovery situations • CanDo 2.5 Upgrade - Lots of
improvements - CanDo is improving with age • Deluxe
Paint Tutorial - Animation feature - Global Whiding
• Hot PD - Lalesl in almost tree sollware • The C64
Column - News and readers' problems • Amos Column -
AMOS Pro V.2 update and Amos Pro Compiler • You Can
CanDo - Speech Ulifity • Education - Back to Basics
Fractions • Andy's Attic - How lo create a RAD drive
• Games - Creatures, flashback, SuperFrog. BodyBlows,
tiard Seed - Full Solution
S3 each including postage.
Send cheque or phone/lax credit card number.
Saturday Magazine, 21 Darley Rd, flandwick NSW 2031 ,
Ph {02} 398 51 1 1 Fax (02) 398 5322.
ACAR 61
C64 COLUMN
resolution screen option, which provided
a compromise. You could now stack
more colours closer together without fear
of invading the colour cards of other
areas, but the overall resolution of the
screen was dramatically reduced any-
way. Great for colour, lousy for produc-
ing good looking monochrome work.
Availability: OCP Art Studio and
Advanced Art Studio are no longer avail-
able from retailers, but there's certain
to be a lot of secondhand copies float-
ing around. Check your local classifieds.
Koala Painter
At one time the pseudo -standard C64
graphics package. Provides a very large
selection of drawing tools which make
freehand drawing almost redundant,
which is just as well when considering
the usefulness of your average joystick
when plotting freehand shapes.
Availability; The Koala Painter Kit
(which also includes various utilities) is
currently available from C64 Public Do-
main <SA), Box 146 GPO, Adelaide,
SA5001.
Format Converters
Also very useful are the many and
varied viewers and converters floating
around in the public domain. Some are
designed for converting between the
files from C64 graphics packages (such
as between Koala and OCP formats),
while others will let you view or con-
vert from GIFs (common to the IBM
world), MAC format (obviously from
the Macintosh) and many others. Sev-
eral converters and sample image files
can be found on the PD 1 disk which is
currently available from Code One for
$6.00, or you can try contacting any of
the C64 Public Domain libraries, such
as Brunswick Publications.
Users wishing to transfer their C64
graphic files to GIF, JPEG, IFF or Post-
script formats, or just directly to MS-
DOS or Amiga 3.5" disks, should con-
tact Code One Computer Services (de-
tails above) for pricing details. They'll
also transfer word processing files from
C64 to Amiga/IBM or vice versa. Call,
write or fax for more information.
MAIL
Real Programmers Use the
Commodore 64!
Victor Bien of Rockdale NSW writes:
"Dear Owen, My attitude is that the
C64 will remain a suitable base for peo-
ple to pursue 'real' computer program-
ming; ie. provides a base for low-cost
experimenting to gain detailed under-
standing of modern digital electronics
and its interaction with and support of
software.
"By real programming, of course, I
mean programming in Assembler or
machine language. The sort of program-
ming I have in mind are being able to
"Its simple design
and, especially now,
its low cost makes the
C64 almost ideal"
write code to do those fancy things you
see on games, writing device drivers,
and mastering the interrupt system to
do fancy hardware tricks etc. None of
these interests require the super high
resolution screens of the Amiga or its
astronomical amount of memory (com-
pared with the C64).
"Sure, one could pursue such an in-
terest with other computers, but con-
sider these points; The Vic-20 is too
small a computer, the Amiga is too ex-
pensive, and so are PCs. The heyday of
the C64 generated lots of books, so the
computer is well documented and ideas
to try out abound.
"Admittedly, games on the C64 are
so-so. Obviously graphically the Amiga
is in a different league, but then the
greater resolution comes at a price. The
C64 games are as good as the 8-bit
Segas and Nintendos though choice of
games with equal 'theme' quality is nar-
rower than from them because more
money has been poured into the Segas
and the Nintendos.
"This brings me to the money as-
pect. It's not the place to get political in
a technical magazine, but we need to
appreciate that the capitalist system
needs to keep growing to stay alive re-
gardless of whether it tramples over all
sorts of human considerations. So com-
puters are driven to grow bigger and
more powerful regardless as to whether
we continue to need all that growing
power. Similarly, commercial interests
have to remain on the growth treadmill
or they can't survive. So money inter-
ests with all the neon lights and tantara
follow the growth game. But does that
mean that once the general commercial
interests have passed over something
that it loses all value?
"A community of people can keep
something viable as long as those peo-
ple don't make the mistake of thinking
that only things of commercial value
have real value. This means that the
C64 community could continue indefi-
nitely if enough people are interested in
the computer in its own right and not
for money. Still, you can never tell that
people who cut their teeth on the C64
won't develop skills to program the
Amiga and other giant computers or
other electronic devices and quite unin-
tentionally make big bucks!"
Some interesting points there. Cer-
tainly, the C64 still has the capacity to
provide an excellent training ground for
electronics and programming. Its sim-
ple design and, especially now, its low
cost makes the C64 almost ideal for this
purpose.
Your point regarding the value of a
computer to a user is also very valid.
Just because the technology is ten years
old, is the computer any LESS power-
ful than it was? It loses value only when
one compares it to the current range of
machines. The C64 is still as useful as it
was ten years ago, it is only that our
expectations of computing power have
changed.
I'll be back next month with all the
latest news and views. Until then, I'd
love to hear from you. If you have a
news item, short review, question, or
suggestion you'd like to submit, please
send it to:
The C64 Column, PO Box 288,
GladesvilleNSW2Ill. Q
AGAR 62
C64 SOFTWARE
SPECIAL OFFER - 4 disks packed with
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Top PD utilities, Games, Word Proces-
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For immediate delivery send
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BRUNSWICK PUBLICATIONS
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Ph (02) 759 7343
Scarlet
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High Speed Data/Fax
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V.32bis Int No Fax $426
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Samuel St, Camp Hill, Qld 41 52
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MEMORY EXPANSION
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1st floor, 100 Yurrara Rd, Pennant Hills 2120.
PO Box 382. Pennant Hills 2120.
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Commercial Software
Entertainment titles
Amiga Nuts ♦ Deja Vu
PD ♦ Accessories
Digitizers ♦ Scanners
Laser Printing * C64
Bio rang e. Best Prices!
Call for a free catalogue.
Cred it Cards Wel come!
PO Box 192,
j^EM Katoomba NSW 2780
Tel/Fax (047) 57 3982 |
AMIGA RD. and
SHAREWARE
Try Caradoc Enterprises for a
HUGE range of AMIGA P.D.
software, same-day service
and great prices.
Every kind of software (or every kind of
Amiga. Order by phone or mail.
For our free catalogue disks, send 2 blank disks to:
PO Box 345 Nanango Qld 4615
Ph: (071) 6330*7 Fax: (071) 633 048
Mobile: 018795 357
Phone orders and support 9am-9pm seven days.
BankCard/Masiercara/Visa'Cheque/MO accepted
Stuck for a
Christmas
Present
A subscription to
Australian
Commodore and
Amiga Review will
make a great
Christmas present.
See subscription form
on page 21.
J
ACAR 63
ENTERTAINMENT
From the
Entertainment Editor
Good news! The world of Amiga en-
tertain mcnl is looking bigger and brighter
lhan at any time in the last two years.
Sales of the Amiga 1200 arc booming,
and there's even a revival in Amiga 600
sales at the new, ultra- affordable price.
And that means, of course, that there's a
whole batch of new potential game play-
ers out there, just waiting to get their
hands on some software.
That's good news for all of us - soft-
ware houses that were starting to discard
the Amiga as a "has-been" have been
forced to sit up and take notice, and as :
you'll sec from the news below, new ti-
tles are starting to roll again. The Amiga
version of Body Blows, for example, has !
already sold over 1 ,000 copies!
Add to that the excitement and specu-
lation about Commodore's new CD32
game console, and you're looking at the
biggest revival since ABBA.
New from Playcorp
Growing Amiga software distributors
Playcorp are expecting a number of new
Amiga releases in the next few weeks,
including Battle Isle, Woody s World
(from New Zealand's Vision Software),
and the Amiga 1200 version of Civilisa-
tion.
Commodore's
new CD32
Speculation is rife about Commodore's
hot new entertainment marvel, the CD32. ;
Syndicate
By the time you read this, the answers
should be clear - answers to key ques-
tions like "What price?" Commodore are
oscillating between $599 or $699 for the
basic CD entertainment system. Here at
the Entertainment end of ACAR, we're
hoping they settle on the $599 price -point
- after all, we want them to sell like hot-
cakes! We'd also like to see the optional
MPEG full-motion video card as a stand-
ard item - after all, we can always dream.
Hotpoint announces
CD32 Software
The software is already rolling for the
new CD32, with five new titles announced
by Amiga specialists Hotpoint. The key
release is a totally new game called Dig-
gers, which apparently has to be seen to
be believed! There are also enhanced ver-
sions of James Pond II, Zool and Pinbull
Dreams in the pipeline, together with Mi-
crocosm from Psy gnosis and Jurassic
Park from Ocean, which has unfortunately
been slightly delayed.
Amiga hot stuff from
Hotpoint
The Amiga market hasn't been forgot-
ten in the CD-frenzy. Soccer Kid from
Krysalis should be shipping through
Hotpoint now; it's had rave reviews in
the overseas press, and we'll be review-
ing it here soon! The long awaited Walk-
er is also promised in the next few weeks.
Syndicate competition
from Electronic Arts
This month. Electronic Arts are giving
away six copies of their hot new title
Syndicate to lucky readers of ACAR. Syn-
dicate is a dark, moody game set in a very
nasty looking future. Read our review,
and make sure you enter the competition!
! After all, with that many copies on offer,
you might even win!
ACAR Entertainment
Hints Disks
Did you know that over 200 satisfied
j readers are now using Official ACAR En-
! tertainment Hints Disks? It's true! Gamers
everywhere are hunting through the hun-
dreds of hints, tips, clues and full game
solutions packed onto disks 1 and 2 and
finding exactly the help they need. Why
not join them? Simply send a cheque or
postal order for $5.00 together with a blank
disk and a stamped self addressed enve-
lope to ACAR Hints Disk Offer, PO Box
23 Maclean NSW 2463. Specify Disk 1
or 2 - or why not spoil yourself and order
both?
Public Domain Plus
Game Collection
Looking for some good cheap games
to run on your Workbench 2/3 Amiga?
Here's a deal too good to miss.
Public Domain Plus have just released
two packs, each with (01 games.
Crammed on to 1 disks, each set retails
for $39.95 - or you can order both packs
for $75.00.
A quick glance at just one of the disks
reveals titles like Baseball, Clue do. Con-
centration, an Adventure game, a directo-
ry of Card games and a slick looking car-
racing simulator.
For more information, or lo order your
collection, contact Public Domain Plus at
PO Box 791, Homsby, NSW 2077.
(You can also pick up a full PD cata-
logue disk for just $2.00.)
ACAR 64
continued on page 68
Rocket Science Made Simple
...HIGH FLIER VERSUS "SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED"
Some 24 bit video boards make you pay
your money and take your chances. You take a
chance that they'll be up and flying in the future.
You take another chance that all the
"enhancements" they promised will be around
tomorrow. Or that they'll be around tomorrow.
Why take any chances when GVP has everything on your
countdown list today'.
JVM™
<£5
15MB 24-bit, 16.8 M color frame buffer. <j5
Real-time iramegrabber/digitizer <j$
De-interlaced video flicker eliminator <g$
VIU-S" witt) RGB, composite, S-VHS
input/outputs , q£
Optional VIU-CT" pro-grade component transcoder
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(video over application or application over video) <j5
Digital and analog key inputs (j^
Captured image retouching/processing. (v$
Video switcher transitions <j5
Real-time 24 bit paint (g
Animation/3-D rendering <^5
V2.0 Software with J
Caligari Broadcast
.Included $2399 i
The VIU Advantage:
GVP is serious about video! So IV24's
Video Interface Unit gives you more choices for
inputting and outputting video signals than any
other Amiga 8 peripheral on the market. Nobody
else gives you a VIU splitter, let alone one that
does so much. IV24's VIU manages video from computer
sources, component tape formats, composite video, even broadcast
professional formats— in any combination you can imagine.
Software Mission Control
Desktop Darkroom" ■ Capture images in Desktop Darkroom or
bring stills in from other applications for professional
processing and retouching, using filters, special effects and
color separation.
My LAD" » Hot-switch between two video sources with 50
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Macropaint-IV24'" 2.0 • (New release— Significantly enhanced!)
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Access ARexx scripts directly.
Caligari24" • IV24's newest software bonus is a complete 3-D
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IV24 is on the launching pad today, awaiting your order for
lift off. The decision— how to spend your video future—
airbome at full thrusters...or grounded, waiting for parts?
^GVP
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TRACKS 20
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MODULE of the YEAR!
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Roc kit, an old RAP favourite
and MOD OF THE YEAR,
Jammin Cindy. IMbrec.
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2 $ 9.50 $ 4.75
3 $13.50 $ 4.50
4 $17.00 $ 4.25
5 S20.50 $ 4.10
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On this disk you'll find a fully
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program, ArJay, which allows
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(ONE DISK, Requires J Mb,
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The ideal way tor first time public
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ENTERTAINMENT
Mercenary III
- The Ultimate Solution
This month we start our first
part of the Mercenary III - The
Ultimate Solution. I received
eight hand written foolscap pages
from "The Man In The Hat" of
Nerang in QM. I've attempted to
decipher the hand as well as I
could - next time, hat-man, how
about typing it on your computer
and sending us a disk?
When you start, first drop your Bus
Pass. It isn't really a necessary object
and the A- Z computer could easily re-
place it. After dropping the Bus Pass,
walk to the rear of the prison, there you
will find the Eagle 9SE and its key.
Board the 9SE and fly to Eris, Capital
Loc 8-03. Go to the 9th floor, get the A
- Z computer & fly to Loc 9-02 and
land. Enter the elevator, go to the base-
ment, walk to the rear of the elevator
and take the Red Beacon Locator. Go
up to the ground floor and fly to Snow
Isle Loc 3-04 and you will find the
powerglove, an object which allows you
to pick up the 9SE Transporters and
some people eg PC Bil. Fly to Vesta
Loc 5-04 and go to reception and fol-
low the guy's instructions. To enter the
election board, fly your plane to
Damocles and look for a flashing light.
Land next to it and there you will find
Puluin one. Pick it up and PC Bill will
zoom out of the election faster than you
can say Jack Robinson!
Then fly to these places or take the
transporters to the places where the ex-
plosives are located and pick them up.
See the objects and their locations next
month.
Fly to Dion, North and first buy the
trophy at Loc 2-05 then fly to Eris,
Capital City Loc 14-05. Pick up the
timed detonator and fly back to Dion,
Dion North and blow up two mine sites.
On the second mine site after you blew
it up, fly off the planet because Bill's
forcer comes after you. Fly back in to
Dion, North and blow up another mine
up. Repeat this until all six mine sites
are destroyed.
Taa Daa, you have won the game.
Next month, we'll have full details
of where you can get everything that is
needed to complete Mercenary HI.
As some people wilh a good eye
would have noticed, I have cut soma
Of the old games out o! the Hal! ol
Fame to make way for Ihe new breed
of games. If your highscore has gone,
try sending in some new high scores
for soma new games.
I recently received a letter from
Gerard McDermott who beat the ex-
isting Speedball highscore by 10
poinls. Not a big margin, but it still
counls! He wrote lhat he played 100
consecutive games, no resets and
minimal saves. Now that's devotion!
Send your high scores to Juris
Graney, 41 Cameron St, Maclean
NSW, 2463. Please mark dearly
welher your scores are lor C64 or
Amiga. And remember- NO CHEAT
MODES ALLOWED!
AMIGA
ACTION FIGHTER 132,530 Robbie
Baker
ALERT 359,700 Robbie Baker
ARKANOID 1,052,610 Steven Walter
AMAZED 130,500 Chris Turnadge
ANARCHY 646,560 Sid Vicious
AQUATIC GAMES 4,170,666 Phil
Carey
AXEL'S MAGIC HAMMER 329, BOD
Aaron Birscumb
BAAL134,250Davo
BARBARIAN 2 100% [CJ Sid Vicious
BATTLE COMMAND 334,300 P Cain
BATTLE SQUADRON 999,999,099 (C)
Amos Burbidge
BEYOND ICE PAL 67.626 (C) Chris
Turnadge
BIO CHALLENGE 29,000 A Sanderson
BLOC KOUT 85,28 1 Slephen Lark ,
BLUES BROTHERS (C) Loopy
BOMB JACK 468,120 Kathy Butters
BUBBLE + 276.850 (C) Chris Toyna
BUBBLE BOBBLE 2,960,9BO KriSly
Cameron
BUDOKAN 6i08min (C) Mark Sorenson
BUGGY BOY 113,260 Powerhouse
Nick
CAR-VUP 464,122 Happy Hacker
CHASE HQ 7,426,060 Powerhouse
Nick
CONT. CIRCUS 4,81 5.390 Dolly
CRAZY CARS 93,622.590[C)Robert
Cameron
CRAZY CARS CHALL 3,000,000,000
Michael Summers
CRYSTAL HAMMER 6,767,921 (C)
Krisly Cameron
CYBERBALL 475,000 David Marsh
DENARIS 53,900 Peter Evans
DIABL0 1 ,490 Timothy Johnson
DRAGON NINJA 406.400(C) Wize Owl
DOUBLE DRAGON 975,352 Alex Smith
DOUBLE DRAGON 2 201 ,330 (C) me
Warrior
EDD THE DUCK 5,820 AndrewGormty
ELIMINATOH 246,570 Greg Munro
EMERALD MINE Lv! 23 (C)T Johnson
FIRE AND ICE 707,200 Carol Love
FINAL FIGHT (C) Loopy
FLOOD 13,135 Malthew Beetson
GAUNTLET 3 270,509 Loopy
GEE BEE AIR RALLY 308,726 R Irwin
GODS 1 3.50 i,379[C)Wire Owl
GOLDEN AXE 499.9 (C) Untouchable
HYBRIS 2,934,425 Andy Tyson
IK+ 1 .039,200 [CJPowerhouse Nick
IMPOSSIBLE MI5SN 66,380 D Unwin
IMPOSSIBLE MISSION 2 67.000(C)
David Dilkes
INDIANA JONES LC. (C) Phillip Nimll
INDIANAPOLIS 500 243.24mph Ian
Klauss
INERTIA DRIVE 33,600(C| A Gormty
JAMES POND 2.500,000 M Shillington
KARATE KID 2 64,000 M Summers
KILLING GAME SHOW 699.270 David
Thompson
KLAX 4.396,040 Happy Hacker
LE ATHE RNEC K 88,700 Todd Humpries
LIVE AND LET DIE 96,520 M Beaton
MAJOR MOTION 50.658 O Websler
MENACE 996,481 Kamakazi Andy
MIDNIGHT RESISTANCE 332.610
Chris Mclnally
MINDWALKER 306,214 P. Schumacher
MOUSETRAP 71 ,977 Davo Rich
NARC 160.800 Damien Carsburg
NECRONOM 1,181,360 Johnny Rorlen
NINJA MISSION 66,528 Chris Toyne
NITRO 283.000(C) Brett Bannerman
NUCLEAR WAR 990(C) Paul Rucci
N.Z STORY 546,695 Embah Bealon
ONSLAUGHT 39,918 Andrew Gormty
OP, THUNDERBOLT 255,075 Alex
Smith
OP. WOLF 355,680 Graham Wilson
OFFSHORE WAR 626,345 J Boolh
P1NBALL DRMS 464,580,351 The Fly
P1NBALL MAGIC 423,560 Paul Rucci
PINBALL WIZARD 3,893,570 S Hose
PIONEEH PLAGUE 35,412 Keir Sooby
PLUTOS 299,000 Davo
POPULOUS 347.990 Mchael Summers
PORTS OF CALL S1 0,461, 843,0OWS-
2680 James A Browning
RAMPAGE 212.912 Graham Wilson
RICK DANGEROUS 2 B3.810 AGormty
SKWEEK 3.375,401 Faye Doherly
SPACE ACE 24,680 (C) Stare Bear
SPCE HARRIEH 210,855,25OMaverkik
SPEEDBALL 17.760 Gerard McDermon
SPEEDBALL 2 59O-0 Darren Chapman
STHIDER 175,350 Neil Young
SPER CRS27 Rcs(C)L Helherington
SUPER CARS 2 Hard Level '42' The
Untoucha70O (C)Malthew Beets=n
TV-SPOHTS BASK. 192-39 Mat James
TV-SPORTS FOOT. 189-0 D McKinney
U.N SQUADRON 762.255 (C) Tony
Stojanouski
VIDEO KID 425, 780 Aid Rose
VIRUS 22,637 Jason Dykstra
WINGS 509 Kills Charles Smith
XENON 2 1.107,2BQ(C)Mark Porta
COMMODORE 64
ALTERED BEAST 312,400 Rick Zanker
ARKANOID 2 756,250 Mean Max
BARBARIAN 2 91,900 (C) Danzig
BATMAN - THE MOVIE 1,087,080
Michael Bradley
BANGKOK KNIGHTS 39,600 J Smith
BOMBJACK 521,820 Adam Wade
BUBBLE BOBBLE 6,963,930(C)David
GavriloviC
BUGGY BOY 182.790 P. Murray
CABAL 194.450 The Joker
CHASE HQ 2 29.100(C) Adam Wade
DOUBLE DRAGON 35.820 iCi AMI
Prasad
DOUBLE DRAGON 2 2SS, 190 Nick Van
Heeswyk
DRAGON BREED 496,870 Happy
Hacker
FAST BREAK 136-9 Chris Byrne
GHOULS S GHOSTS 558,1 10(C) Adam
Wade
GRYZOR 228,600 Mean Max
H. MARADONA Level M Nick Van
Heeswyk
HAWKEYE 260,400 Matthew Inrnan
IMPOSSIBLE MISSION 2 864,980
Cvaig
INT. KAHATE 139,300 Paul Millward
LAST NINJA 2 17m44s(C) David Carter
MIDNIGHT RESISTANCE 28, 540(C)
Dennis Pike
NEM1SIS 1,633,200 Adam Wade
OP. THUNDERBOLT 78.600 A Annen
OP. WOLF 776,350 Winston Diaz
PARADROID 303,125 Matthew Inman
POWERDRIFT 672,940(C) A Annen
R-TYPE 1,890,210 Atul Prasad
RAINBOW ISLANDS 7,653,241 Adam
Malfnowski
RAMPAGE 180,000 Adam Wade
SALAMANDER 235,300 Paul Millward
STREET FIGHTER 1 6B,9QO(C) A Wade
TARGET RENEGADE 330,450(C) C.
Byrne
TEST DRIVE 2 249.543(C) A. Balioc
TETRIS81,613/L-1021TheFly
THE TRAIN 9.600(C) Adam Annen
THUNDERBLADE 1 .851 .040 M Inman
THUNDERCATS 310,100 S Kandaurov
T.M.N.T, 4,397 Adam AnnBn
UNTOUCHABLES 70.230 S Watford
WONDERBOY 4.775.470(C)Lee
Walters
Scores followed by (C)
indicate that the game has
been completed/clocked.
AGAR 68
ENTERTAINMENT
Send your entertainment
letters, questions, problems,
and other interesting stuff to
the Entertainment Mailbox,
PO Box 23 Maclean NSW
2463.
Pilot Crashes and Larry
Problems
Dear Phil, My name is Carlos and I
have a problem. I've been all over Syd-
ney looking for a hint book for Leisure
Suit Larry 3 and I have had no luck at
all. If you can, can you tell me where I
can get one?
Also I have a game called F- 16 Com-
bat Pilot. The problem is when I load
the game, everything is fine until I get
to the office where you make your mind
up about what you want to do. At that
point, after you click on your choice, it
just freezes up and crashes back to the
begin ing. I have an Amiga 500, WB 1.3
with 1 meg of Ram. The funny thing is,
my mate has an Amiga 500 with WB
1.2 and it works fine on his computer.
Can you tell me why and if so can I do
anything about it besides throwing it
out?"
Carlos Tizzone
Dulwich Hill, NSW
Ed: About Larry 3, you can drop
Mike Spileri a line at Adventurers Realm
and he'll send you a free hint sheet -
just send a stamped, self addressed en-
velope.
Alternatively, grab a copy of our Of-
ficial ACAR Adventurers Realm Hint
Book Number 2 - you'll find full solu-
tions for Larry 2 and 3 together with
solutions to 23 other games. Order from
Darrien at our ACAR Randwick office,
$10 including postage.
As for F-J6 Combat Pilot, I've got
no idea what's causing your problems,
except for stating the obvious - maybe
it's a 1.2 game that's not 1.3 compati-
ble! Do you have another friend with a
1 .3 machine? Try it on that. Other than
throwing the game out, you could sell it
to your mate to play on his 1 .2 Amiga!
More Larry Problems
Dear Phil, I have been playing Lei-
sure Suit Larry J and I am after some
hints. Where can I buy a hint book?
Troy Garth
Goulburn, NSW
Ed: What is this, Larry month or
something? Read the advice in the pre-
vious letter carefully and do exactly the
same - except you'll be needing a copy
of Volume 1 of our ACAR Official Ad-
venturers Realm Hint Book ($9) rather
than Volume 2!
Baffling Bat Problems
Dear Phil, I have got a C64 and I was
wondering if you or someone else out
there had a cheat for Batman the Movie.
I have been trying to complete it for
quite a while and have not succeeded.
I'm not much of a games player but this
game impressed me and I enjoy playing
it.
Jason Huxley
Montrose, Vic
Ed: Someone's sure to come to your
aid, Jason. Just stay tuned for the next
couple of months - same bat-time, same
bat-channel!
Frustrated Fan
Dear Phil, I recently saw a review of
Warlords 2 in The Australian - it sounds
so cool! The problem is that they only
mentioned an IBM and Mac version.
The original was good but only had one
map. Can you please find out if there
are any plans for an Amiga version? If
there will be an Amiga version, once I
buy it, I won't have to buy another game
for six months (that's what happened
when I bought Civilisation six months
ago! - speaking of which, is there a Sid
Meir fan club?).
Harley Kingston
Whiporie, NSW
Ed: From memory, I can't recall hav-
ing seen an Amiga version of Warlords
2. However, you should check it out
with Bruce Wilson at Directsoft Aus-
tralia, on (02) 489 7853. Likewise, if
you really want to know if there's a Sid
Meir fan club, contact Sega-Ozisoft on
(02) 317 0000. Finally, if you want to
join the Phil Campbell fan club, just
send heaps of money to the address
above.
Exile-Ent Fun
Dear Phil, I have been playing the
"exile"ent game Exile on and off for
about a year now. For the last eleven
months though, I have been stuck. I am
trying to find the two last keys, 5 & 6,
can you help? Also how do I find the
second whistle, and the radiation pill?
And do you know any cheats or hints
for this game.
Also, I bought Eye of the Beholder a
few months back. But now, I've lost the
rule books. I still have the map, but if
anyone out there would have a copy of
them I'd be willing to buy them or pay
for photocopies.
David Cucvara
Gordon, NSW
Ed: The first hint for Exile is that
maybe you should be writing to Adven-
turers Realm ! The second hint is to stick
around - someone's bound to help you
out anyhow. So if you're reading this
and you've got some clues for Exile or
some paperwork for Eye of the Beholder,
drop us a line here at ACAR.
Battletech Problems Cured
Dear Phil, In the Entertainment Let-
ters section of the August issue there
was a letter from Dr S.D.A Demiiio of
the ACT. He was after some help with
Battletech, if he could drop me a line
I'm sure I can fix any problems he might
have.
Tony Finn
214 Fernleigh Rd
Wagga Wagga NSW 2650
Ed: Thanks Tony - just what the
Doctor ordered !
ACAR 69
ENTERTAINMENT
Project X
Revised Edition
Federation Pilot Dave Sanna straps himself in to his
Hyperion Cruiser and sets out on a deadly battle.
Will he survive? Find out for yourself.
It's the same old story - other peo-
ple's mistakes become your prob-
lems. And this one's a doozy. It's
those scientists again. Typical. They did
it all for a bit of fun one night after
they'd been down to the pub. They must
have. After all, who really WANTS a
bunch of massive, mutated insect-like
droids with x-ray eyes? But they made
thein anyway. And you should see them
now!
Dumped on the planet Ryxx and left
to degenerate, stagnate and fade out,
the sickening mutations not only sur-
vived, but thrived, their intelligence cir-
cuits warped by their past and left seek-
ing revenge. Fears of an all out attack
have forced the Federation into action!
Your mission, as usual, is simple enough
in theory. Fly to Ryxx, into the heart of
the station that the evil spawn has made
its own - and blow the whole thing sky
high. But can you do it? I doubt it very
much.
First, you'll need to select your space
craft. You have three to choose from.
They are the CRUX, the best craft for
beginners, slow, with many weapons;
the HYPERION CRUISER, with mod-
erate fire power and fair speed; and the
HUNTER Mk-7. This baby is the ulti-
mate warrior, fast, agile, and lightweight,
with good weapons.
Surprisingly enough, there's an in-
built Auto-Fire option which as the name
suggests allows rapid fire by just hold-
ing down the fire button. As the game
starts, you're asked to select from a range
of power-up options. Choose too many
of one type and your ship will become
slow and sluggish. On the other hand, if
you don't get enough of the right ones,
your ship will be wide open to attack.
There are nine power-ups in all, and
each is extremely dangerous - even more
so when they're combined in the cor-
rect sequence. Your default ship to start
with has everything you need, but
powerups like sideshot, plasma, hom-
ing missiles and stealth will increase
your chance of advancing through the
stages.
Graphics are the high point of Project
X. The best place to start is the ship. All
three are drawn extremely well. Their
colours arc pleasant, and they look fast,
lean and mean. The background graph-
ics are excellent too - the folding moun-
tain ranges in stage two are the best I
have seen for a long while. The enemy
ships are the same high quality as your
own, if not better. The scrolling is quick
FACTBOX
A top class shoot-em-up with
everything you ever dreamed of -
superb graphics, atmospheric
sound, and exciting and addictive
gameplay.
Ratings:
Graphics: 96%
Sound: 92%
Gameplay: 85%
Addictiveness: 97%
Overall: 92%
Distributed by Hotpoint Soft-
ware (02) 428 779 1 . RRP $29.95.
and easy to follow and the animation is
superb. What more can I say? For a
shoot-em-up, it's a graphical master-
piece.
Sound is effective too. The synthe-
sised voice is the first thing you will
notice when you start to play - it ex-
plains what weapon you've selected,
and warns you of incoming attacks. It
certainly adds just the right atmosphere
for a game like this. The music is quick
and great to listen to - the strong beat
gets the heart pumping and the adrenalin
running.
I guess by now you'll realise I'm
pretty stoked with this game. It has eve-
rything needed in a good shoot-em-up -
sound, graphics and above all,
addictiveness. The options arc endless,
which means the game will have long
term interest. I believe this re-release of
Project X deserves to be a real hit - it's a
great game, and deserves a piace in
everyone's collection. J
ACAR 70
ENTERTAINMENT
No, it's not a stick-up - it's a classy World War It flight
simulator. Laetone Gravolin pulls on his goggles to
investigate ...
Reach
for the
Skies
As I push the throttle forward, my
Spitfire gallops down the runway,
faster and faster until it feels like
the whole world is rushing past me. With
one quick snappy movement on the joy-
stick, the old cracked and muddy lyres
leave the earth once more. I ease the throt-
tle back, and swing around to head for my
destination.
We're playing Reach for the Skies, a
World War II flight simulation that's very
similar to Their Finest Hour. You can
control either the RAF or the Luftwaffe,
with eight different planes including fight-
ers and bombers.
There are four campaigns to choose
from, and each is made up of a series of
missions. Your objective is to keep com-
pleting the missions successfully and win
the war. The three levels of play are: Prac-
tice, which gives you a free flight: Pilot,
a full wartime mission in which you ei-
ther fly planes or serve as a gunner in a
bomber; and Controller, where you use
strategy (your head) to create your own
missions and then fly them.
You can be awarded medals and be
promoted for your heroic conduct, but if
you fail too many missions you will soon
j retire and the game will end. You'll also
i lose if you crash ... RIP.
If you're a very impatient person,
1 there'sanacceleratedmodethattakesyou
straight into the action. Autopilot is help-
ful as it takes control of the plane and
hunts for bandits, (Hmmm - did they have
autopilots back in WWII? - Ed)
If you just like to sit back and enjoy
the action there's an autogun mode, so
your plane will automat-
ically shoot down bo-
gies. Getting shot up can
be a pain - your gun's
jammed, elevators are
gone, so what do you do?
Simple! Just press a key
and presto! You've sud-
denly jumped into your
wingman's plane, which
is in perfectly good nick.
You can also jump to
other planes in your
squadron.
Pressing FIO brings
up a menu bar dial al-
lows you to choose your rank, scenery
detail, whether your enemies are aces and
how much sound you want (similar to
KACTBOX
A nicely produced game let down
by some boring moments - it's pos-
sible to fly around and hit nothing
for quite a while! Even so, the stra-
tegic mission planning option will
more than make up for this if you're
looking for a thinking-man's flight
game.
Ratings
Graphics: 90%
Sound: 87%
Gameplay: 63%
Overall: 76%
Distributed by Scga/Ozisoft (02)
3170000. RRPS69.95.
8th. September: The
German high command
continue the heavy
bombardment of Britain's
manufacturing strength.
Aircraft Available: 8
Winft Commander -Johnny is
a pilot in the RAF
response to the German air
threat.
WilimiHI* RESET QUIT
Falcon and Flight Of The Intruder).
Graphics and view modes are superb -
there's even a tactical view mode to show
you where the enemy is. During flight, if
you switch on the video you can watch
and re- watch your favourite dogfights.
You can also take pictures of the scenery.
The most action in the game itself is
when you dogfight with the enemy. This
can get frustrating because often you can't
catch the enemy with your plane and they
are just a small pixel moving up and down
on the screen way out of your gun's range.
In fact, this is the weakest point in the
game - overall, the graphics are great and
the soundtrack is brilliant, but to my mind
there's simply not enough excitement. In
some missions I was more likely to die of
boredom than enemy gunfire.
Even so, the game design options and
the fun of flying will give keen air-enthu-
siasts plenty of fun. □
ACAR71
ENTERTAINMENT
Hailed as one of the best games of the year, Syndicate
breaks new ground as a fuiiy interactive RPG. it also
breaks plenty of heads. Wanna know more? Read on, as
Phil Campbell takes you into a very bleak looking future.
Syndicate
The world of 2120 is not a pretty
place. Canyons of concrete, steel -
and-glass mountains, parks of
synthetic turf - not the sort of place you
would choose to visit. Even worse, these
days the whole planet is controlled by a
select group of crime cartels, malicious
Syndicates whose only business is the
business of power.
No wonder the ordinary guy-on-the-
street is opting out. These days, escape
is easy. Just implant a liny
biochip in your neck and your
perceptions of the outside
world can be re-tuned com-
pletely. Switch on your chip
and you'll hear the birds sing-
ing and feel the sunshine on
your shoulders, even though
you're walking through the
constant drizzle of acid rain.
"Why change the world when
you can just change your
mind?'", says the Biochip slo-
gan. And millions agree.
We're playing Syndicate, a game that
paints a dark and forbidding picture of
the future. I'm an up-and-coming ex-
ecutive in a small European Syndicate -
so far we control just Scandinavia, but
our ambition is to take over the world.
Naturally, that's a challenge you lake
on one step at a time. But when you
send the right agents to the right place
at the right time, you'll be amazed at
what you can achieve. Android agents
FACTBOX
A fully animated, fully inter-
active, three dimensional Role
Playing Game, It's atmospheric,
moody, and you can control heaps
of details. Graphics are small but
nice, sound is repetitive but at-
mospheric, and there's plenty of
game lurking under the surface.
Ratings
Graphics: 82%
. Sound: 73%
Gameplay: 85%
Overall: 81%
Distributed by Electronic Arts
(075) 911 388. RRP for Amiga
$89.95 - and six lucky readers
will win a free copy!
1 1 1 1BMO '&. - T
Hsshess
have come a long way since Maxwell
Smart's electronic sidekick Hymie -
these days, specially developed Cyborgs
do the dirty work, while I pull
the strings from a safe dis-
tance.
Once human, the cyborgs
are part man, part machine.
Before each mission, you can
bolt together exactly the mod-
ules you need, replacing hu-
man legs, anns and even brain
sections with more powerful
biomechanical equivalents.
When the mission begins, I
control my agents through
their neck mounted chips, fine
ACAR 72
tuning Intelligence, Perception and
Adrenaline levels from my computer-
ised control desk.
In play, the game looks as gloomy as
you would expect. A scrolling isomet-
ric view of the city fills three quarters of
the screen, while my control panel takes
up a strip on the left. My agents - up to
four at a time - are small, but clearly
defined, and move easily among the
dark, dangerous looking 22nd Century
buildings. To move an agent, simply
click on his current position, then the
destination point, and he will start walk-
ing.
Mission Number One is straightfor-
ward. Intelligence reports indicate that
an Army Colonel is stealing resources
from my weapons division and using
them to equip a group of renegade mer-
cenaries. Stop him!
After fitting two agents with special
mechanised leg units - in this case an
unnecessary precaution - I send them
across the narrow bridge into the ren-
egade Colonel's base. My scanner shows
his position as a white blip; third build-
ing on the left. In moments, it's over -
we outgun two guards, and give the
Colonel one final lesson in Syndicate-
style diplomacy. Don't mess with the
boss!
The second mission is tougher. This
time it's a matter of encouraging two
top-level scientists to defect - with a
little electronic inducement from my
handy Pcrsuadertron. Enemy guards are
out in force, so it's far from easy. If you
suceed, however, the rewards are huge.
With these top boffins on side, another
continent is in your hands.
Syndicate is a well engineered game
with loads of detail, and to succeed
you'll need a good strategic mind. Con-
trolling tax rates to maximise profits
and minimise the risk of rebellion, while
weeding out traitors, and continually ex-
panding your global empire is a tricky
business. And with over 50 missions,
Syndicate is sure to provide a long-term
challenge. Q
Electronic Arts Syndicate Competition
Great news! Electronic |
Arts have six copies of
Syndicate to give away
to lucky readers of
ACAR. Well, not just
lucky - talented as well.
Read on for details of
this ultra easy-to-win
competion, and get your
entries in as soon as you
can.
The Questions
I. Let's start with an easy one.
According to the review, how many
individual missions are included in
Syndicate'}
2. Here's a trick question to see if
you've got any imagination! If you
had a Persuadertron, who would you
use it on, and what would you want
to persuade them?
3. Now for something really an-
noying - after all, you don't think
we'd just give away free games with-
out setting a challenge, do you? I've
just run a search-and-replace through
the Syndicate review you've just
read to find out how many times
the word "the" occurs. So starting
at the words "The World .,.", and
ending at "long-term challenge,"
what's the answer? And be careful
- after all, the letters "t-h-e" could
be hidden just about anywhere!
Write your answers on the
back of an envelope, and
send it to:
EA Cometition, c/o PO
Box 23 Maclean NSW 2463.
ACAR 73
ENTERTAINMENT
Campos
International Rugby
If Rugby is a gentleman's game, Phil Campbell is
certainly not the guy to be reviewing Campo's
International Rugby - but he does anyway.
My brother-in-law's cow is called
Mrs Campese - not, 1 am quick
to add, because of any reflec-
tion on the real Mrs Campese. Far from
it. Brother-in-law Frank is actually Rug-
by star David Campese's number one
fan. And the name of his cow is just a
way of paying tribute. There's no doubt
about it - Rugby fans are a strange breed.
David Campese's Rugby career was
launched back in 1982, when he burst
onto the world stage as an 18-year-old
rookie. Since then, his career path has
rocketed upwards. His statistics are
enough to make most players green with
envy. And now, to top it off, Campese
is the star of his very own computer
game - Campo's Internationa! Rugby.
The game opens with a well-rounded
selection screen. You can opt for a quick
start, or you can fiddle around choosing
teams, fixtures and tournament modes.
A further sub-menu lets you set the
match length and the wind conditions -
let's choose a ten minute match, and
add some "Variable Winds", just to
make things interesting.
At first glance the simulated playfield
is far from impressive. In a word, it's
straighl-froni-the-paintpot green, with-
out a single pixellated grass-patch or
weed. Some sport-sims go to consider-
able trouble to add interest and depth
with nice looking lawnmower-stripes
across the grass. This one doesn't.
At any one time you can see about
20 yards of the field on-screen - it's a
scrolling "from-the-helicopter" view,
which has the effect of making all the
players look small and stunted. Any
hopes you might have had of recognis-
ing Campo on the field will be quickly
dashed.
Time to play. It's Australia against
the Seth Efricen Springboks, and the
Springboks kick off. My closest player
grabs the ball and I start steering him
down the screen towards the try line. I
duck and weave beautifully, until a large
'Bok brings me down five metres short
of the try line. In the
scuffle that follows, the
ball is nudged over the
line - I send another
player charging in, he
dives onto the ball, and
it's a glorious try.
Sadly, I follow up
with a serious error of
judgement - my broth-
er-in-law's sister asks
if she can attempt the
conversion kick. She's
a devout rugby fol-
lower too, so I politely
stand aside. The con-
FACTBOX
An action packed Rugby game
that's easy to play - so easy, in
fact, that if you take your hands off
the controls it plays itself! Graph-
ics and sound are nothing to write
home about, but they do the job.
RATINGS
Graphics:
69%
Sound:
74%
Gameplay:
79%
Overall:
78%
Distributed by Sega-Ozisoft (02)
317 0000. RRP $69.95.
version screen features a side-on view
of the field - the kicker stands in the
foreground, the goal posts and the grand-
stand are in the rear. Three well timed
joystick clicks are required to make the
kick - a meter sets your power and di-
rection. Mrs Campbell misses the ball
altogether - a previously undocumented
feature of the game.
All in all, it's a fast scoring game.
On the down side, with thirty players
scrambling around the screen and a small
brown ball, it's often hard to know ex-
actly what's going on. In the credit col-
umn, though, add the fact that scoring is
actually quite easy - which means there's
plenty of action and excitement.
Last time I heaped praise on a footie
game like this, a reader wrote to com-
plain that the game was much too easy.
Well, let me be blunt. That's exactly
why I liked it. After all, what's the point
of dishing out big dollars on a game
where it's impossible to score a try? I
want action, I want points - and I want
them now. It may not be realistic, but
who cares? It's a lot more fun.
ACAR74
ENTERTAINMENT
Calling all serious Science Fiction fans! Mark Harris
reports on the sequel to the game based on the first
book in the four part Dune trilogy ... well, you know
what I mean. It's the fabulous ...
DUNEH
The Battle for Arrakis
Nearly uninhabitable, Dune is an
extremely hot and oppressively
arid planet. Windstorms with
speeds exceeding 200kmh rake the plan-
et surface, and generate violent electri-
cal storms. Clouds of noxious gases ac-
cumulate in lower areas and ultraviolet
reflections will eventually blind the un-
protected eye. Maintenance of vehicles
and structures is extremely difficult un-
der these conditions - so the stage is set
for Dune.
The first thing that impressed me
about the game was the opening and the
House selection screens. House Atreides
has been prominent for thousands of
years and has a long tradition of being
fair and just administrators. Sources in-
dicate the House Ordos represents a car-
tel of wealthy families, brought together
by the desire for greater security. The
Ordos have little conscience and seem
to gain strength through sabotage and
terrorism. House Harkonnen is the most
savage House in the universe. The
Harkonnens have a long histoiy of em-
ploying violence and fear to achieve
their objectives.
Unlike Dune I where you were auto-
matically on the Atreides side, in Dune
U you are given a choice of one of three
Houses. Moving into the game proper
you are given easy first and second mis-
sions for all Houses - after this, the
action really begins. The object of the
game is to conquer Dune by conquer-
ing the other Houses. In order to pay for
this you are given some initial credits,
but then you have to mine Spice to fur-
ther finance your war mongering. Spice,
a deadly drug, is rare and a valuable
commodity, used in n-ade, barter and
monetary systems
thoughout the
Universe.
When you're
strong enough you
then attack the oth-
er Houses, and go
on your merry
conquering way,
blowing great
holes in the land-
scape destroying
all before you.
This is a game of
brutal power and
strategy. I found
Dune I engrossing
FACTBOX
Based on the amazing Frank
Herbert Sci-Fi classic. Dune I! is a
point and click style strategy game
with plenty of long term appeal.
Ratings:
Graphics: 85%
Gameplay: 80%
Instability: 80%
Sound; 75%
Value: 80%
Overall;
Distributed by Sega/Ozisoft (02)
317 0000. RRP $69.95.
- the sequel did similar things to me but
on a larger scale. There are ten missions
for each House so there are hours and
hours of gameplay to enjoy with some
of the later missions taking 5 to 6 hours
to complete - so as you can judge this is
fairly good value for your hard earned
dollar!
The point and click interface is very
simple. There is limited speech - unlike
the IBM version, which has plenty.
(Lazy programmers porting again?) A
word of warning for Amiga 500 users
... unless you have the 1 meg Agnus
chip (suitably configured) you'll expe-
rience difficulties loading the game from
a hard drive. If you are playing on
floppies you can only use two drives,
though thankfully there is not much disk
access during the game proper. A bit of
technical advice for the 1 meg Agnus-
less, if you turn all external drives off
and open WorkBench and then the Dune
H icon, then close WorkBench this will
load the game. The game is 600 and
1200 compatible. Q
ENTERTAINMENT
Fresh from the local video arcades, Juris Graney checks
out the Amiga version of the best beat-em-up of all ...
Walk into your local video -game
arcade sometime. You'll see a
mass of people crowded
around a video game - people jeering,
yelling obscenities at each other, clam-
ouring to catch a glimpse of the lone
player at the controls. Walking closer,
you'll begin to hear weird noises com-
ing from the screen. Shouts of "HA-
DO-KEN" curdle the air, along with
plenty of grunts, groans and crunches.
Yes folks, it's Street Fighter II, the hot-
test game to hit the arcades in years.
And now, thanks to Capcom, you
can beat up Blanka and Ryu without
having to feed your hard-earned dollars
into an arcade machine.
First impressions are positive. It's
only 40 seconds from boot-up to the
selection screen - rather fast consider-
ing the amount of graphics you're load-
ing. Now select between one and two
players, choose an input device (key-
board, joystick or joypad), set your dif-
ficulty level, and pick one of the eight
possible characters.
Graphically, Street Fighter 2 is as
good as you are going to get on the
Amiga. It is close enough to the pinnie
version - in fact the background charac-
ters are the spitting images of the origi-
nal except for a few minor flaws. For
one thing, their muscles seem to be a lot
bigger than normal - all the better to hit
you with?
Unfortunately, the music is different
on the Amiga version, which seems to
make the game feel slow. It is very
repetitive, though it does have that air
of violence in its slow beat. The sound
effects, though, are exactly the same as
the original. There's nothing better than
hearing the familiar sounds of "HA-
DO-KEN" and "SONIC BOOM" echo
across the room. To add to this, the
sounds of fist landing on jaw and head
landing on cement are extremely well
put together.
The first question I asked myself
when I picked up the package was, "Are
FACTBOX
A reasonably faithful copy of
the arcade original - graphics are a
close match, sound effects are the
same, though the music track isn't
quite up to scratch. If you're
hooked on the arcade version, grab
yourself a copy!
Ratings:
Graphics:
76%
Sound:
69%
Play ability:
85%
Addictiveness:
95%
Overall:
90%
Distributed by Sega-Ozisoft
(02)317 0000. RRP $69.95.
ALL the special moves included?" The
answer is Yes. They're considerably
slower than the pinnie version, but that's
to be expected due to the amount of
memory needed for graphics.
All things considered, I must say that
I was extremely impressed with the qual-
ity of graphics, sound and speed on the
Amiga. The only drawback is the con-
tinual disk-swapping needed between
bouts. Otherwise Street Fighter 2 is the
same as the arcade version and well
worth the money to buy it. All the spe-
cial characters are there, like Vega, and
all the special moves are there. There is
one thing that this game lacks, and that's
the incredible atmosphere of the origi-
nal. If your mum will let 20 teenagers to
stand in your room and play the game,
then so be it - but I know for a fact that
my mum didn't like it much! □
i i
t, J
ACAR 76
ENTERTAINMENT
MICHAEL SPITERI'S
Mm&
Greetings! Welcome to Adventurers
Realm, the section of the mag dedicated
to informing and helping those who play
adventure and roleplaying games on Com-
modore computers. There are a lot of new
goodies in the Realm this month. In the
hint sheet department, Kerrie has three
new hint sheets and we are proud to re-
lease the Second Adventurers Realm Hint
Disk!
If you are stuck in a game there are a
number of avenues open to you. You could
write to one of the many Clever Contacts
scattered around the nation (write to Kerrie
for a listing), or you can write in for one
of our many free hint sheets. You could
lash out and buy a hint disk or hint book
(there are two of each available!), or if all
else fails, drop your problem in to me and
it will appear on these pages for all to
ponder. The address to write to is:
Adventurers Realm, 12 Bridle Place,
Pakenham, Vic 38 10.
Kamikaze Andy (alias Andrew Phang)
resides deep in his Dungeon to give you
all the latest news from overseas. He's
also one of the Realm's hottest Clever
Contacts, so if you are stuck in an aggra-
vating roleplaying game (or even adven-
ture game!), drop him a line at the follow-
ing address (and don't ask him for hint
sheets!)
Realm's Dungeon, PO Box 1083, Can-
ning Vale, WA 6155.
Realm's Hint Books
A st roke of 1 u c k h as res u Ited i n a hand- I
ful of the First Adventurers Realm Hint
Book being discovered in the vaults of
Saturday Magazine.
For just $9.00 you'll receive a book
packed with detailed hints and tips for
over 40 adventure games.
Even better, order the Second Adven-
turers Realm Hint Book for just $ 10, and
you'll receive a book packed with hints
and tips for over 25 adventure and
roleplaying games and heaps and heaps
of mapping sheets!
To order either book, drop a line to
Darrien Perry at 2 1 Darley Rd, Randwick,
or give her a ring on (02) 398 5 1 1 1 .
Realm's Hint Disks
Great news, folks! Graeme Beavan has
been typing away at his Amiga to come
up with a second super hint disk. This
second instalment is chock-a-block with
over 90 detailed solutions - and none of
these were on the first disk! The second
disk also features maps for Faery Tale,
Dungeon Master, Eye of the Beholder (1
& 2), and Wonderland'. It's also a lot snaz-
zier with better fonts, a new point'n'click
menu and even some background music!
If you'd like either volume 1 or 2 (or
even both) of the hint disks, they cost just
$7.00 each (including p & p), or just $5.00
each if you supply the blank disk and
stamped addressed envelope. Send a
cheque (made out to Michael Spiteri) for
the required amount to:
Realm's Hint Disk, 12 Bridle Place,
Pakenham, Vic 3810.
Hint
Sheets
"You are standing at the front door.
The door has a handle," Open Door.
"You open the door and walk into the
entry. You can hear a shuffling noise
coming from the east. To the north is
the kitchen, to the east is the living
room." Go East. "You enter the living
room. Before you stands a pile of letters
two metres high. From the pile comes a
shuffling noise."
An ordinary day in the Free Hint
Sheet Dept. Somewhere in that pile of
letters, Kerrie the Lady of the Realm is
sorting out all of your hint sheet re-
quests. Fortunately, there are enough
hint sheets to go around, however don't
dally in sending in your request. You
can choose up to four hint sheets from
the list below. They will be sent to you
as quickly as possible if you enclose a
stamped addressed envelope. If you
don't enclose one your request will be
lost in the mail!
Good news for hint sheet collectors!
Thanks to Stuart George and Matthew
Armstrong, we have three new hint
sheets. Stuart has contributed Indiana
Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, while
Matt has sent in Loom and Space Quest
11, Thanks for your effort, guys !
The other hint sheets available are ...
Mortville Manor/Maupiti Island, Mon-
key Island I, II, Space Quest III, Space
V, Wonderland, leisure Suit Larry 3,
Champions of Krynn, Kings Quest V,
Pool 'of Radiance, Zak McKracken, Zork
1, 2, 3, Bards Tale 1, 2, 3, Hitchhikers'
Guide to the Galaxy, Guild of Thieves,
Jinxter, The Pawn, Corruption, Faery
Tale, and the 1993 Clever Contacts List-
ing.
The only address to write to for free
sheets is: Free Hint Sheets, 12 Bridle
Place, Pakenham, Vic 3810.
ACAR 77
ENTERTAINMENT
Clever Contacts
Andre Thomas of 9 Dean Place,
Lockridge WA 6054 would like to join
the merry crusade of Clever Contacts.
Andre can help out in ... Mega-lo-Mania,
Hunter, HeroQuest, Eye of the Beholder,
Monkey Island I, Monkey Island 2, Elvira
(maps), Kings Quest I-1V (most). Kings
Quest V, Myth, Dungeons ofAvalon 1 &
2 (most), Curse ofEnchantia, Xenomorph,
Flash Back, Alien Breed 92.
Another new Clever Contact is Aaron
Danks of 192 Shaftesbury Avenue, Bed-
ford, WA 6052. Aaron has complete so-
lutions of Ween and Larry 1, and can
offer small hints and level codes for Archer
McLean 's Pool, John Madden Football,
Road Rash (passwords), Desert Strike
(passwords), McDonald Land, Sensible
Soccer, History Line, and Monkey Island
1&2.
Tony Finn of 214 Fernleigh Road,
Wagga Wagga, NSW 2650 has taken up
the challenge to create a Realm hint sheet
for Eye of the Beholder I and 2. How-
ever, until then he will offer his services
as a Clever Contact for these two titles
plus over fifty other titles.
The list of Clever Contacts grows even
longer with Jen Howell of 30 Frewin Av-
enue, Woodberry, NSW 2322 joining the
ranks. Jen can offer help in ... Cruise for
the Corpse, Monkey Island I 8t2, Space
Quest I. 2, 3, Kings Quest I, 2, 3, 4, 5,
Maniac Mansion, Operation Stealth, Indy
Crusade and Indy Atlantis, Larry I, Fas-
cination, Police Quest and Deja Vu,
What a month! David Guevara of 18
Holford Crescent, Gordon, NSW 2072 is
a new contact who can help out in the
following games ... Curse of Azure Bonds,
Champions of Krynn, Death Knights of
Krynn, Ultima VI, Gold Rush, Hero's
Quest (Sierra), Space Quest 1-3, Larry l-
3, Kings Quest 1-3, Police Quest 1, 2,
Another World and Dragons Breath.
David has set a limit of three games per
letter.
And on! Andrew Malcolm of 13 Shiral
Avenue, Kanahooka NSW 2350 can of-
fer help in ... Hero's Quest 1, 2, Space
Quest 1, 2, 3, Kings Quest 1-5, Heart of
China, Monkey Island 1 &2, Loom, Indy
and Last Crusade, Enchantress, Hook,
Larry 1, 2, 3, Maniac Mansion, Police
Quest 1, 2, 3, Alternate Destiny, plus a
heap more games.
Shane Robertson of 14 Sonoma Road,
Budgewoi, NSW 2262 would like to up-
date his listing with Deadline, Stationfall,
Ballyhoo, Lurking Horror, and Suspect
(Mike: seems like Shane is working his
way through an Infocom games pack).
Finally, Mat Armstrong has to have
his update included. Write to Matt at 1 1
Harcombe Street, Bell Post Hi II, Geelong,
Vic 3215 if you'd like help in Dark Seed
and Kings Quest VI, among other things.
A big thankyou to all our new Clever
Contacts for offering their services to trou-
bled adventurers, and a big thankyou to
all the current contacts out there slogging
away. If you use the services of a contact,
you must enclose a stamped addressed
envelope and some funds to cover any
photocopy or printing costs.
Adventure Chat
I recently received an ancient parch-
ment with burnt edges written in a lan-
guage I could not decipher. I thought I
would have to delve deep into the adven-
ture archives to work it out, however lucky
for me, it came with an ultra modern typed
up translation, which started off some-
thing like this ... "Dear Sir Michael,
Though taking up about four percent of
AGAR, the Adventurers Realm is the sec-
tion of the scroll I most thoroughly read.
Cong ratu 1 ations ! "
Now, that's my kinda letter! The an-
cient parchment, translated by Andre
(d'Nuit) Thomas has found itself in the
Realm's official unreleased scrapbook.
Aaron Danks writes ... "I am a great
fan of the Police Quest series by Sierra,
and I have eagerly been waiting for Po-
lice Quest IV. What I would like to know
is, have they been at least considering it
and if they have, what is it about?
"Maybe Sierra can get their 2000 disk
problems extinguished and cram it all on
two disks and maybe it could run a bit
faster because in PQ3 it took an hour to
get from the elevator to the briefing room.
"Another good idea is to maybe make
it 3D, or if not it could be much like PQ2
as I enjoyed this game very much!"
Mike: I don't like your chances of
seeing another Police Quest instalment,
since Jim Walls parted company with Si-
erra a while back. Still, send your com-
ments to Sierra (Coarsegold, CA 93614),
as they like to receive feedback from their
fans. Meanwhile, keep an eye out for new
titles by Jim Walls under a different com-
pany name.
Shane Robertson writes ... "In response
to Glen Christie of Blackwood in SA who
asked if anyone knew where Lost Treas-
ure of Infocom II was, it is available from
Code One Computer Services at PO Box
192, Katoomba NSW 2780. It sells for
$95.00."
Mike; Thanks for that info, Shane. On
the subject of missing games, Matthew
Mclnally of Moruya in NSW wanted to
know if Eye of the Beholder III is out on
the Amiga. The chances of this happen-
ing is quite slim, Matt, however we'll
keep our eyes and ears open. Eye of the
Beholder III has been available on PC for
a couple of months now. You can order
your copy from the Games Man.
Matt Armstrong writes ... "I read in the
August Dungeon that Brian Moriarty is
creating a new game called The Dig. Brian
wrote Loom, which is now one of my
favourite games. Do you know much
about The Dig! The Dungeon didn't men-
tion much about it."
Mike: The Dig should be out by the
time you read this. The plot begins with
an out of control asteroid heading for
Earth, around 1998. A space shuttle crew
sent out to prevent the damage gets
dragged away by an alien trap to a mys-
tery world billions of light years away.
The most interesting fact about The Dig
is that it represents Steven Spielburg's
first entry into directing computer games.
A couple of issues back I mentioned a
new C64 magazine that was put out by
Compudata. Well, the good news is that
the magazine is still going strong and get-
ting bigger by the issue. The July issue
features heaps of game reviews and tuto-
rials and comes with two public domain
disks. For more information, contact
Compupal on (05 1 ) 43 005 1 , or visit them
at the Dandenong and Malvern computer
swap meets in Melbourne.
AGAR 78
ENTERTAINMENT
The Adventure Problem Centre
This is the area of the Realm where
problems are aired and help is given. If
you were stuck a few months back, keep
reading, you could be in luck today. If
you can help out in one of these prob-
lems, please do, quickly.
First up, Andrew Malcolm of
Kanahooka in NSW would like to know
how to kill the ghoul, talk to Holunder, or
what to do after you play the harpsichord.
The game? Oh yes ... Ooze Creepy Nights
(by Dragonware).
Andrew also wants to know how to
pass the electric door in Operation Stealth.
Jen Howell from Woodberry in NSW
is stuck in Hook. She just can't seem to
find the so-called gold in the pots on
Hook's ship. You might be missing some-
thing earlier on, Jen. Mark Harris has of-
fered to help you out if you send him a
saved game.
Daniel O'Brien of Gillieston Heights
in NSW is sanding away at Dune. Seems
he can't supply enough spice for the Em-
peror. "Explore more!" suggests Mark
Harris. You need to build up the spice
during the earlier part of the game.
Adventure disk creator Graeme Beavan
has come to the rescue of a whole swag of
adventurers, so let's get the ball rolling ...
Michael Seymour wrote to Phil
Campbell about the Baby Sitter from Hell
in Willy Beamish. You need to go to the
bathroom and get the hair spray from the
cabinet. Aim the spray near the ceiling.
After Alicia flies into the cloud, she should
slow down. Get the mouse from Brianna's
bedroom (in the chair cushion), click on
the vacuum cleaner then hide behind the
couch. Throw the mouse onto the living
room end table and when the bat tries to
pick it up, use the vacuum cleaner. (Mike:
The Willy Beamish solution is on Hint
Disk 2, as is Police Quest 3).
Also troubled was Cassandra
Mackersay who in April was stock trying
to find Snake Skuil in Leander. Graeme
suggests you go left across the waterfall
from the place with two snakes. Enter the
cave, go all the way down, then jump to
the right twice, and presto!
Stuart George was stuck in Colonel's
Bequest back in August. To deal with the
ghost in the cemetery, you simply avoid
him by taking the underground passage
through the Hedge Garden. Stuart was
also stuck in Ultima 3 - well, both Wayne
Phillips and Mark Harris suggest the fol-
lowing ...
'To get the Mark of the Snake, go to
the island south of Death Gulch and enter
the dungeon. Peering at gems, lead down
to the SW cavern of Level 8 where you
will find the Mark."
Matt Armstrong has been trying un-
successfully to shove a bar of soap down
his bikini top. Strange lad! Actually, Matt
was playing Leisure Suit Larry 2, and
what he should have been doing is putting
money in the bikini top. Clue courtesy of
Graeme again.
David Cucrava also came to the rescue
of a couple of adventurers. Firstly, for
Jason West who was pulling his hair out
in Ultima VI ... "Captain John is at the
bottom of Hythloth. You can get there via
the Shrine of Humility (via the moon-
stone) then travel west until you get to
Hythloth and go down. Or, go to the Slab
via moonstone and you will arrive in the
Gargoyle Realm. Go south and east until
you come to a cave. Don't talk to anyone
or attack anyone on the way. It is a good
idea to be invisible when you go there. Dr
Cat wants a book called Snilwit's Big
Book of Board Game Strategy, which can
be found at the library at the Lycaeum."
(Also thanks to Stuart George for his tip).
Then for Dr Demilio who was stock in
Battle tec ... 'To get heaps of money, only
invest in the Nashan Division (NASD IV).
Enter all the buildings and do everything
possible in them ( ! ! !). Buy everything you
see (buy a heavy environmental suit and
inferno for all members). Train everyone
in your party. If you fight a Mech and you
have a Mech Pilot in your party, kill it
with the Inferno and get it repaired for
your own use. If a party member dies,
load a saved game."
Matt Armstrong is still stuck in the
Omnicron Conspiracy. Any help at all
would be appreciated! He is also still stuck
in Dagger of Amon tia in the furnace
room. Any takers?
Aaron Danks is stock obtaining the
locker combination in Police Quest HI.
"It ' s in the manual !"screamsMarkHarris.
Check your manual out, Aaron.
I received more general hints and tips,
but I'm afraid I've run out of space, so
these will be published next month.
Realm's
Trading Post
Yes, folks, the title says it all. This is
the area of the Realm where you can
advertise absolutely free to sell, swap
or search for game titles. Please don't
try to flog pirated stuff here - it's not a
very nice thing to do.
Andre Thomas (see Clever Contacts
for address) has the AD&D Gold Col-
lectors Set (contains five games) and
Red Storm Rising. He will sell or swap
these games for Civilization, Global Ef-
fect, Vikings, A-Train and Populous 2.
Jeremy Taylor of 23 Cambridge St,
Bunbury, WA 6230 has for swapping
Fit Falcon, Monkey Island, Double
Dragon and Robocop 3. He would like
Indy and Last Crusade, Eye of the Be-
holder, MI Tank Platoon, and Civiliza-
tion. Ring Jeremy after 6pm (EST) dur-
ing the week on (097) 911 560.
David Guevara (see Clever Contacts
for address) currently owns Curse of
the Azure Bonds and Gold Hush on the
Amiga and fie is willing to buy or swap
for Ultima 1, 2, 3 (pack), DM's Assist-
ant Vol 1, and Barbarian 2 (not
Psygnosis).
Dale Scott of 15 Skyes Avenue,
Innaloo WA 6018 is in the market for
Sim City for the Amiga. He'll dish out
up to a generous $50 for it!
Andrew Malcolm (see Clever Con-
tacts for address) currently owns Epic,
Heart of China, Space Quest HI, Loom,
Ooze, Monkey Island I, plus a few other
games, and he would like to swap them
for some good games, like Knights of
the Sky for example.
Grahame Welsh of 131 Maryborough
Qld 4650 is searching high and low for
Champions ofKrynn on the Amiga. He's
also after (if it was ever released) Secret
of the Silver Blades for the Amiga.
Grahame sounded pretty desperate, so
ring him on (071) 231 778 if you can
help out.
ACAR 79
ENTERTAINMENT
At last, the Amiga conversions of the
latest Sierra hit adventures - King 's Quest
VI: To Heir is Human, and Space Quest
V: The Next Mutation are ready to ship!
Word from within Sierra's Coarsegold,
CA offices is that the former will be re-
leased "very soon now" with Space Quest
Vnot much further behind. However, there
is no confirmation that any of Sierra's
upcoming releases such as Gabriel
Knights will also make it to the Amiga (at
least, not this year!). There is a strong
chance that Freddie Pharkas (the latest
from the guy in the Leisure Suit, Al Lowe)
will make it early next year!
Sierra seems to be investing heavily in
the CD-ROM market, with support for
the new Tandy VIS CD-ROM, as well as
multimedia MPC versions of all of its
upcoming releases. Whether this will spill
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over into support for Commodore's CDTV
remains to be seen. I guess it all depends
on the success of the upcoming CD32.
At the last Chicago CES, one of the
more noticeable features was the increase
in the number of CD-ROM only games
(as previously mentioned in Dungeons
past). Pretty soon, the Dungeon might
find itself with more information to report
on the CD-ROM scene than on the Ami-
ga RPG/Adventure scene, which would
have seemed unbelievable only a year ago.
Not all is in vain - look out for Simon
The Sorcerer, all ye Amiga adventurers
{especially fans of the Luc as Arts type of
adventure games, like the superb Indiana
Jones and the Fate of Atlantis). This prod-
uct from UK based AdventureSoft pro-
vides great puzzles, a lot of visual hu-
mour (through some excellent animation
and cute graphical touches), and a
storyline that is sure to warm the hearts
(yep - a "feelgood" adventure). You play
young apprentice sorcerer Simon, whose
quest is to seek out the Grand Wizard.
Zorkers beware! Return To Zark has
been confirmed as a product due out from
Activision, but at this stage, only on PC
and CD-ROM formats. As with the last
"Infocom" game from Activision (Leather
Goddesses Of P hobos II - which is still in
limbo although an Amiga version has re-
portedly been completed). Return To Zork
features a graphical interface, so point
and click to your heart's content. The
CD-ROM version will feature live actors
straight from Hollywood (either it's pres-
tigious to appear in a computer game these
days, or the recession is hitting
TinselTown hard too).
And from Lucas Arts - Day Of The
Tentacle (Maniac Mansion II) is fun fun
fun! Totally cartoonish, totally wild, to-
tally addictive. The Amiga version is get-
ting ready to hit the software shelves as
you read this. Other possible LucasArts
games include Sam And Max Hit The Road
(based on LucasArts artist and comic book
author/artist Steve Pur-cell's infamous Sam
and Max creations), The Dig (another
LucasArts adventure personally handled
by Steven Spielberg himself), and yes,
THAT range of games from THAT series
of films ... namely, X-WING\ The success
of LucasArts first space simulator based
on the Star Wars series has prompted a
rethink on an Amiga version, and eager
Rebels can prepare to strap into their X-
Wings sometime in the new year. Let's
hope that LucasArts release an Amiga
1200 version utilizing the new graphics
capabilities of this machine!
(X-Wing has already spawned two ex-
pansion disks, a CD-ROM only game
(Rebel Assault), and Tie Fighter - you get
to play the bad guys this time. Shows
how far behind we Amiga gamers are, but
all is not lost, if LucasArts and other soft-
ware companies get behind our machine!)
In the weird licensing corner - we have
- the one and only Intracorp (some of
their previous licenses include Home
Alone 2 and The Taking Of Beverly Hills).
This time, the company is going all out
with games based on previous hit movies
like Wayne's World. Help Wayne and
Garth rescue their TV show by raising
funds to keep the bank manager at bay
(yes, it's an adventure ... of sorts ... with
plenty of babes thrown in).
Intracorp are also banking on potential
hits (or at least, movies that will attract a
let of attention) such as the upcoming
SurfNinjas Must Die (you play this radi-
cal surfing dude, right, called Johnny,
right, who's on a journey from the land of
the Great White Board (California), right,
and make your way to the Orient for loads
of fun times, right ... yes, it's another
adventure ... right), and the new remake
of The Beverly Hillbillies. Oh, and did J
mention T2: Chess Wars? Yes, a CHESS
game (of all things) using characters from
Arnic's hit movie.
(For those of you not making any con-
nection between chess and RPGs - err -
well, I could say that (a) both involve
SOME form of strategy, (b) there is no
connection at all, (c) Intracorp pay me to
say this, or (d) all of the above).
Finally, some news from the home of
flight (and all sorts of other) simulations,
MicroProse recently previewed two new
adventures using its graphical interface
(first introduced in Rex Nebular And The
Cosmic Gender Bender), and both appear
to be much better products than Gender
Bender, in terms of graphics, and storyline.
The first is called Return Of The Phan-
tom, while the other, Dragonsphere, has
elements of fantasy and RPG in it As
with most games these days, it is hard to
predict whether these adventures will
make it to the Amiga platform (though
MicroProse have been quite supportive
of the Amiga in the past).
Oh, and for Sim City fans - watch out
for SimCity 2000!
ACAH 80
Computer Adventure
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